Cardoso Lemos

Decisionofthe Players’StatusChamber passedon9October2023 regardingacontractualdisputeconcerningtheplayerMateusCardosoLemos COMPOSITION: JavierVijandePenas(Argentina),Chairperson JesúsArroyo(Spain),Member CastellarGuimarãesNeto(Brazil),Member CLAIMANT: FCShakhtarDonetsk,Ukraine RepresentedbyJosepVandellos RESPONDENT: OlympiqueLyonnais,France I.Factsofthecase Theparties 1.Therelevantnaturalorlegalpersonstothedisputeare: theUkrainianclub,FCShakhtarDonetsk(hereinafter:ShakhtarortheClaimant); theFrenchclub,OlympiqueLyonnais(hereinafter:OLortheRespondent); theEnglishclub,LeicesterCityFC(hereinafter:Leicester);and theBrazilianplayer,MateusCardosoLemosMartins(hereinafter:theplayer). 2.ItistobenotednonethelessthatonlytheClaimantandtheRespondent(hereinafterjointlyreferredtoastheparties)arepartiestothedispute. TheemploymentrelationshipbetweentheplayerandShakhtar 3.On24February2019,ShakhtarhiredtheservicesoftheplayerfromtheBrazilianclub,GremioFoot-ballPortoAlegrenseagainstpaymentofacompensationofEUR15,000,000. 4.On28February2019,Shakhtarandtheplayerconcludedanemploymentcontractvalidasfromthedateofsignatureuntil31December2023(hereinafter:theUkrainianContract). 5.PursuanttotheAnnexetotheUkrainianContract,theClaimantundertooktopaytheplayerinteraliathefollowingamounts: EUR1,500,000netassign-onfee; EUR800,000during2019; EUR900,000during2020; EUR1,000,000during2021; EUR1,100,000during2022;and EUR1,200,000during2023. ThewarinUkraineanditsaftermath 6.InFebruary2022,theRussianFederationlaunchedanarmedinvasionofUkraine. 7.On9March2022,FIFAissuedCircularLetterno.1787andAnnexe7totheRegulationsontheStatusandTransferofPlayers(RSTP),bymeansofwhichinteraliaemploymentcontractsbetweenforeignplayersandclubsaffiliatedtotheUkrainianAssociationofFootball(UAF)wereautomaticallysuspendeduntil30June2022unlessagreedotherwise. 8.On15March2022,FIFAissuedtheInterpretativeNotetoAnnexe7oftheRSTPtoprovideguidancetothefootballstakeholdersinrelationtotheprovisionsandslightamendments toAnnexe7.TheupdatedwordingofAnnexe7wasalsoconfirmedviaFIFACircularLetterno.1788,issuedon24March2022. 9.On30March2022,theplayerandOLenteredintoanemploymentcontractvalidasfrom1April2022until30June2022.Accordingly,OLundertooktopaytheplayeramonthlyremunerationofEUR180,000. 10.AccordingtotheinformationavailableintheFIFATransferMatchingSystem(TMS): On30March2022:(i)OLenteredatransferinstructiontopermanentlyengagetheplayeras“outofcontract”(cf.art.6,par.1oftheAnnexe7oftheRSTP);and (ii)theFédérationFrançaisedeFootball(FFF)requestedhisInternationalTransferCertificate(ITC)fromtheUAF; On31March2022,theFIFAgeneralsecretariatgrantedFFF’srequestforthespecialexemptionfromthe“validationexception”oftheplayerintheTMSpursuanttoart.6par.1ofAnnexe7oftheRSTP;and On1April2022,UAFdeliveredtheplayer’sITCandhewasregisteredwithOL. 11.On20June2022,FIFAissuedtheCircularLetterno.1800bymeansofwhichitextendedtheeffectsoftheAnnexe7oftheRSTPandinteraliaprovidedforfurthertemporarymeasuresconcerningemploymentcontractsofforeignplayersandclubsaffiliatedtotheUAF.Article2,par.1oftheRSTP(June2022edition)readsasfollows:“unlessotherwiseagreedbetweentheparties,acontractofaninternationaldimensionbetweenaplayeroracoachandaclubaffiliatedtotheUAFcanbeunilaterallysuspendeduntil30June2023bytheplayerorthecoach,providedthatamutualagreementwiththeclubcouldnotbereachedbeforeoron30June2022”(emphasisadded). 12.On30June2022,ShakhtarenteredatransferinstructioninTMStoengagetheplayerfreeofpayment. 13.On1July2022,theplayerwasderegisteredbytheFFFinaccordancewiththeinformationavailableinTMS. 14.Onthesamedate,OLandtheplayerconcludedasecondemploymentagreementvalidasfromthedateofsignatureuntil30June2023.Accordingly,OLundertooktopaytheplayeramonthlyremunerationofEUR270,000. 15.On2July2022,FIFAissuedtheCircularLetterno.1804concerningtheadministrativeapplicationofAnnexe7oftheRSTP.Suchcircularstatedinteraliaasfollows:“[...]toensurethatallinternationaltransfersinvolvingplayersregisteredwiththeUAFareconductedincompliancewiththeFIFAregulationsandalsotoprotectthelegitimateinterestsofbothplayersandclubsinUkraine,FIFAwishestoclarifythat,shouldaplayerbetransferredfromaclubin Ukrainetoaclubaffiliatedtoanothermemberassociationinapplicationofarticle2ofAnnexe7totheRSTP,theengagingclubshouldentertherelevanttransferinstructioninTMSnoearlierthan1August2022”(emphasisadded). 16.AccordingtotheinformationavailableintheTMS: On4July2022,theFFFdeliveredtheplayer’sITCtotheUAFandtheplayerwasregisteredwithShakhtar; On5July2022,OLenteredthecorrespondinginstructioninTMStoengagetheplayerpermanentlyanduploadedthecorrespondingdocumentation; On1August2022,OLconfirmedthetransferinstructionandtheFFFrequestedtheplayer’sITCfromUAF; On3August2022,UAFrejectedtheITCrequestbecause“Thecontractbetweentheformerclubandtheprofessionalplayerhasnotexpired”; On3August2022,theFFFdisputedtherejectionoftheITCanduploadedadeclarationsignedbytheplayerrequestingthesuspensionoftheUkrainianContractinlinewithAnnexe7oftheRSTP(June2022edition); On4August2022,FIFAPlay