Feedback from the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber and the Court of Arbitration for Sport

This contribution is intended to explain how FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) deal with selected day-to-day practical issues.

Liquidated Damages – the “reciprocity” requirement

By using the words “unless otherwise provided for in the contract”, Article 17 of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP) gives primacy to the parties’ own agreement as to the assessment of the compensation for breach of contract in disputes between players and clubs. There is no limitation in said article as to the parties’ freedom to determine the exact amount or the method of calculation of such compensation[1]. Also, Article 17 RSTP is silent as to whether a liquidated damages clause should be reciprocal. There is no such requirement stipulated in the Swiss Code of Obligations (CO) either.

In an unpublished decision issued on 27 November 2014 by the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC), and with regard to the liquidated damages clause stipulated in an employment contract,...

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