CAS: Questioning the prohibition of third party ownership of players (Charles Amson, sports law)

"The decision of the CAS, on 24/12/2015, regarding the dispute between the football club Sporting Clube de Portugal (Liga NOS) and the investment group Doyen Sports Investments could lead to a reconsideration of the FIFA ban on the use of third party ownership, which came into force on 01/05/2015," indicates Charles Amson, a lawyer practicing in Paris and specialising in sports law, in an analysis for News Tank Football, on 25/01/2016.

The CAS ordered the Lisbon club to pay Doyen Sports 75% of the amounts resulting from the transfer of the Argentinian defender Marcos Rojo to Manchester United FC (Premier League) in 2014, as 75% of the players' rights had been owned by Doyen Sports, since his transfer (to Sporting) from Russia in 2012.

"Third-party ownership of players’ economic rights (TPO) refers to third-party investments in the economic rights of professional football players, potentially in order to receive a share of the value of any future transfers of those players," according to FIFA. The FIFA Executive Committee decided, on 19/12/2014, to ban this practice, with a…