Interpretation of Contracts: CAS 2023/A/9712 Joao Tiago Conde Rodrigues Santo v. FIFA

CAS 2023/A/9712 Joao Tiago Conde Rodrigues Santo v. FIFA

Date of the decision: 2024-04-26

Arbitrator(s): Kwadjo Adjepong

A club's decision to engage an individual as a football analyst or a coach hinges on several factors, including contractual intent and the individual's specific responsibilities. Specifically, if the assigned tasks deviate from the FIFA regulations' definition of a "coach", a CAS panel is likely to deem the individual not engaged in coaching activities and, consequently, not employed in a coaching capacity.

Facts and Procedure

On 1 January 2022, the Appellant signed a fixed-term employment Contract with the Club for four tournaments in the Honduras Football League between 2021 and 2024. Clause 1 of the Contract established that the Appellant was employed as the Club’s “football analyst”.

On 10 December 2022, the Appellant submitted a statement of claim before the FIFA PSC requesting payment for the Club’s breach of contract.

On 12 December 2022, FIFA sent a letter to the Appellant and informed him that FIFA did “not appear to be competent” to deal with his claim as the Club had employed him as a “football analyst” according to his contract.

On 13 December 2022, the Appellant filed additional evidence to...

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