FORMER Premier League midfielder Lassana Diarra will learn the outcome of his legal battle with FIFA this week.
The 39-year-old’s case stems from his time with Russian side Lokomotiv Moscow and a dispute over wages.
In the summer of 2014, Diarra fell out with then-Lokomotiv manager Leonid Kuchuk.
Club officials subsequently tried reducing his salary, suggesting it was justified due to his drop in performance.
The Frenchman refused to accept the pay cut and eventually stopped attending training.
Lokomotiv terminated his contract as a result and took the matter to FIFA.
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The football governing body banned Diarra before the Court of Aarbitration for Sport ordered him to pay €10.5million plus interest in compensation.
Belgian club Royal Charleroi then made him an offer, subject to a guarantee they would not have to pay any additional compensation sought by Lokomotiv.
But when they did not receive those guarantees, they withdrew the proposal.
Diarra’s legal team argue this amounted to a restriction of trade and a breach of European labour law because Diarra was prevented from engaging in his profession.
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FIFA refused to issue the international transfer certificate (ITC) which Charleroi needed to register him.
Diarra claims he played no role in talks between Lokomotiv and Anzhi Makhachkala, his former club, but still found himself blocked from resuming his career after being denied his ITC.
The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) will now determine whether FIFA’s refusal to issue the ITC was lawful or not.
If it is not deemed lawful, FIFA may have to overhaul the whole ITC process.
The football governing body could lose authority in the transfer market as a result, with clubs and players taking more control.
Belgian sports law experts and academics Robby Houben, Oliver Budzinski and Melchior Wathelet suggested: “The likely practical outcome of Diarra will be that the transfer system in football, as we know it, will fall.”
The Guardian also claim it could lead to “anarchy”.
Diarra’s legal case is set to be concluded on Friday, October 4.
Source: Soccer - thesun.co.uk
