Germany: court reclassifies the contract of 1. FSV Mainz 05 goalkeeper Müller as permanent

Heinz Müller, 36, a goalkeeper for 1. FSV Mainz 05 (Bundesliga) from 2009 to 2014, had his contract with the club reclassified as permanent instead of fixed-term by a German employment court, on 24/03/2015.

The judge chose to apply German common law, which states that any employee is entitled to a permanent contract after two years of working in the same company. "This decision is unique. All other similar cases have resulted in an opposite verdict," said Harald Strutz, the president of 1. FSV Mainz 05.

"We are going to appeal. If we are unsuccessful, football will undergo a revolution like the Bosman ruling (decision of the Court of Justice of the European Communities on 15/12/1995 which resulted in the removal of quotas on community players). The clubs would be forced to pay dozens of players until they retire!" added Harald Strutz, who is also the vice-president of the DFB.

"I proposed that after a fixed-term contract, a 2^nd fixed-term contract with the same club must be re-classified as a permanent contract" (Philippe Piat, on 01/12/2014)

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