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3w ago

Dutch Foundation Serves Notice of Multibillion-Euro Class Action Against FIFA Over Transfer Rules

The action leverages the Dutch mass-damages act to claim billions on behalf of 100,000 players impacted by unlawful transfer regulations.

Soccer Football - FIFA Club World Cup - Group D - Esperance de Tunis v Chelsea - Lincoln Financial Field, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, U.S. - June 24, 2025 General view of the FIFA logo before the match REUTERS/Lee Smith/File Photo
Image
Gianni Infantino
If successful, the move would be likely to put an end to transfer sagas such as Alexander Isak’s

Overview

  • Justice for Players served formal notice in the District Court of Midden-Nederland under the Dutch Act on the Settlement of Mass Damages (WAMCA) against FIFA and the associations of France, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and Denmark
  • The suit represents about 100,000 professionals who played in EU and UK clubs since 2002 and seeks compensation based on Compass Lexecon’s estimate of an 8% shortfall in career earnings
  • It builds on the October 2024 CJEU ruling in the Lassana Diarra case that deemed key FIFA transfer regulations in breach of EU competition law and workers’ right to free movement
  • Jean-Louis Dupont, the lawyer behind the Bosman and Diarra victories, is advising the foundation on its legal strategy
  • Under Dutch collective-action rules, defendants must respond by September, setting up a test of FIFA’s interim transfer framework adopted after the Diarra judgment