At the request of Belgian justice, the high court established in Luxembourg examined the case of former French international Lassana Diarra who had contested, ten years ago, the conditions of his departure from Lokomotiv Moscow. This departure was accompanied by financial penalties which pushed Sporting de Charleroi to abandon its recruitment.
According to the Belgian lawyer, who was already involved thirty years ago with the Belgian Jean-Marc Bosman, at the origin of the 1995 ruling bearing his name, which put an end to the quotas for foreign players in a club, this judgment is, for his client, “who dared to defy the all-powerful FIFA, a total victory”. The council invites “all professional players who have been affected by these illegal rules (in force since 2001)” has “seek full compensation for their damages”.
This is a major victory for Lassana Diarra and her lawyers, Jean-Louis Dupont and Martin Hissel, but also for FIFPRO and the UNFP, advised by Me Pallao of the Derby Avocats firm. Contacted, the latter greets “a historic decision for professional football which will undoubtedly have significant repercussions on all sporting disciplines”.
