Principles deriving from “Exchange of Players” jurisprudence

In this article, the authors will focus on the situation whereby clubs choose to exchange players without the imposition of any direct financial obligations, i.e. transfer fees. In this regard, all the published jurisprudence of the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber and the Court of Arbitration for Sport will be discussed. After the case-law is discussed, a further analysis will follow. More specifically, the principles that derive from the jurisprudence so far, the legal pitfalls and potential solutions will be highlighted.

Introduction

A very interesting phenomenon is the occurrence of the exchange of players, whereby clubs choose to swap players without the imposition of any direct financial obligations, i.e. transfer fees. Situations involving player exchanges have presented new legal questions and challenges before sports tribunals given the uncertainty of equating an economic value to a transfer where no explicit monetary value is attached. The FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP) are silent as to the question of how the exchange of players should be treated, namely if these exchanges necessitate the payment in relation to sell-on clauses or solidarity contributions. If such payments are prescribed, issues arise over how to equate a player to an economic figure in order to abstract any payments due. This ambiguous topic within football transfers thus requires further scrutiny as to how player exchanges are treated in jurisprudence so far, and how the...

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