Diarra case: class action launched against FIFA by Justice for Players to compensate players
"Justice for Players is launching a class action in the Netherlands against FIFA
Fédération Internationale de Football Association
and several national football associations on behalf of professional football players, men and women, who have played for football clubs in member states of the European Union and the United Kingdom and who have been adversely affected by FIFA's unlawful rules from 2002 to the present," announced the Dutch foundation, based in Amsterdam (NED), on 04/08/2025. The national federations targeted by the complaint are the KNVB
Dutch Football Association
, the DFB
Deutscher Fussball-Bund (German Football Association)
, the FFF
Fédération Française de Football (French Football Federation)
, the RBFA
Royal Belgian Football Association, name of the Belgian football Federation since 08/11/2019.
and the DBU
Dansk Boldspil Union, the Danish Football Federation
.
"This legal action has been launched following The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU
Court of Justice of the European Union, sometimes referred to as the European Court of Justice (ECJ)
) ruling in October 2024 (see "further reading" section), which found that the FIFA Regulations are unlawful in the case against FIFA brought by Lassana Diarra (FRA) and the international players' unions, FIFPRO
International Union of Professional Footballers
Europe and FIFPRO, the international players' unions," added Justice for Players, which estimates the number of players affected at "approximately 100,000."
"By stating unequivocally that FIFA's rules were unlawful and that those rules caused all players to suffer a financial loss, the CJEU in its judgement gave the green light to a Europe-wide class action. This is a classic follow-on claim, in line with the EU Representative Action Directive, that seeks to ensure that the rule of law is upheld, that FIFA is held to account and that all players receive the compensation that is owed to them," continued the foundation, which is being advised on this occasion by Belgian lawyers Jean-Louis Dupont and Martin Hissel, who are also defending Lassana Diarra in the aforementioned case.
- "This legal action is fully funded by Deminor, one of Europe’s leading providers of legal finance, so that players will not have to pay to join the legal action or assume the financial risk of this legal action," said Justice for Players.
"The establishment of this foundation represents the anticipated practical response to the CJEU's Diarra judgment" (FIFPRO Europe)
• "For FIFPRO Europe the establishment of this foundation represents the anticipated practical response to the CJEU's Diarra judgment, effectively centralising advocacy for affected players' interests that have broad implications for the football industry.
• Based on our founding principles and statutes, FIFPRO Europe recognises the fundamental right of players to pursue justice in what has constituted the most significant and long-lasting non-poaching agreement within the sports industry.
• FIFPRO Europe, in coordination with FIFPRO, will now take the time to thoroughly assess the foundation's initiative.
• As the collective voice of professional footballers in Europe, FIFPRO Europe will always support fair compensation for affected players whose rights were breached, while driving meaningful reform towards inclusive governance structures in international football. This approach aims to shield past, current and future generations of players from unilateral and arbitrary decision-making processes that undermine or harm fundamental workers' rights and fair competition.
• FIFPRO Europe remains committed to pursuing constructive dialogue and collaborative solutions with relevant football and public authorities to safeguard the long-term sustainability of the football sector across national and international levels."
FIFPRO Europe, press release, 04/08/2025
"Affected professional footballers have earned approximately 8% less over the course of their career than they would have if the FIFA Regulations had not been unlawfully restrictive" (Justice for Players)
"The case has been launched following the CJEU judgment in October 2024 in the case brought by football player Lassana Diarra and FIFPRO Europe/FIFPRO World against FIFA, which found that the FIFA Regulations seriously infringed EU competition law and the right to free movement of workers, making it extremely challenging for a player to terminate their employment contract without just cause. In short, the CJEU ruled that the FIFA Regulations violated two core principles of European law: free movement of workers and fair competition.
In particular, the CJEU noted that the FIFA Regulations had the effect of restricting the free movement of workers and competition by:
- establishing unlawful criteria for determining the severance 'compensation' a player must pay to their former club;
- allowing the national federation of the former club to withhold the issuance of an International Transfer Certificate (ITC), without which a player cannot play for a new club;
- making the player's new club automatically jointly and severally liable for the compensation to be paid to the former club;
- allowing FIFA to impose disciplinary sanctions on the player and their new club.
The unlawful FIFA Regulations granted FIFA complete control over how and when players leave their current football clubs and under what conditions, effectively enforcing an extremely restrictive 'no-poaching agreement'.
A preliminary analysis by economists at Compass Lexecon has estimated that affected professional footballers have earned approximately 8% less over the course of their career than they would have if the FIFA Regulations had not been unlawfully restrictive."
Justice for Players, press release, 04/08/2025
"FIFA has far too much unilateral power" (L. Melcherts, Justice for Players)
• "All professional football players have lost a significant amount of earnings due to the unlawful FIFA Regulations. Justice for Players is bringing this claim to help achieve justice for footballers and fairness.
• The past and even current system unduly favours FIFA who has far too much unilateral power. In any other profession, people are allowed to change jobs voluntarily. The same should be true in football, particularly as the average career span of a professional footballer according to a FIFPRO study is only 8 years long."
Lucia Melcherts, chair of the board of Justice for Players
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