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Crystal Palace Signs Morocco Defender Chadi Riad to 5-Year Contract 

Chadi Riad of Morocco celebrates after scoring the 0-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 CAF qualifiers soccer match between Morocco and Congo, in Agadir, Morocco, 11 June 2024. (EPA)
Chadi Riad of Morocco celebrates after scoring the 0-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 CAF qualifiers soccer match between Morocco and Congo, in Agadir, Morocco, 11 June 2024. (EPA)
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Crystal Palace Signs Morocco Defender Chadi Riad to 5-Year Contract 

Chadi Riad of Morocco celebrates after scoring the 0-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 CAF qualifiers soccer match between Morocco and Congo, in Agadir, Morocco, 11 June 2024. (EPA)
Chadi Riad of Morocco celebrates after scoring the 0-2 goal during the FIFA World Cup 2026 CAF qualifiers soccer match between Morocco and Congo, in Agadir, Morocco, 11 June 2024. (EPA)

Crystal Palace signed 20-year-old Chadi Riad to a five-year contract on Friday following the Morocco defender's impressive season with Real Betis.

The center-back made 30 appearances last season for the Seville club, on loan from Barcelona. He is the Premier League club's first summer arrival.

“The club has high-level players who are young and I have come here to follow their same trajectory, to grow as they have grown,” Riad, who turns 21 on Monday, said in the team's announcement.

Born in Spain, Riad made his Morocco debut in January and scored his first international goal against Republic of Congo this week.

The signing protects Palace in case center-back Marc Guehi leaves for a bigger club. Guehi is currently in the England squad at the European Championship.

Financial details of the transfer were not disclosed.

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EU Top Court: Some FIFA Rules on Int’l Transfers Are Contrary to Bloc's Law

FILE - In this file photo dated Friday, Sept. 14, 2018, Paris-Saint-Germain player Lassana Diarra during a French League One soccer match against Saint-Etienne at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)
FILE - In this file photo dated Friday, Sept. 14, 2018, Paris-Saint-Germain player Lassana Diarra during a French League One soccer match against Saint-Etienne at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)
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EU Top Court: Some FIFA Rules on Int’l Transfers Are Contrary to Bloc's Law

FILE - In this file photo dated Friday, Sept. 14, 2018, Paris-Saint-Germain player Lassana Diarra during a French League One soccer match against Saint-Etienne at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)
FILE - In this file photo dated Friday, Sept. 14, 2018, Paris-Saint-Germain player Lassana Diarra during a French League One soccer match against Saint-Etienne at the Parc des Princes stadium in Paris. (AP Photo/Michel Euler, File)

The European Union's top court said Friday that some FIFA rules on player transfers can conflict with European Union legislation relating to competition and freedom of movement.
The court's ruling came after former France international Lassana Diarra legally challenged FIFA rules following a dispute with a club dating back to a decade ago, The Associated Press reported.
Diarra had signed a four-year contract with Lokomotiv Moscow in 2013. The deal was terminated a year later after Diarra was unhappy with alleged pay cuts.
Lokomotiv Moscow applied to the FIFA dispute resolution chamber for compensation and the player submitted a counterclaim seeking compensation for unpaid wages. The Court of Arbitration for Sport found the Russian club terminated the contract with Diarra “with just cause” and the player was ordered to pay 10.5 million euros ($11.2 million).
Diarra claimed his search for a new club was hampered by FIFA rules stipulating that any new side would be jointly responsible with him for paying compensation to Lokomotiv.
“The rules in question are such as to impede the free movement of professional footballers wishing to develop their activity by going to work for a new club,” the court said in a statement.
The former Real Madrid player also argued that a potential deal with Belgian club Charleroi fell through because of the FIFA rules, and sued FIFA and the Belgian federation at a Belgian court for damages and loss of earnings of six million euros ($7 million). With the lawsuit still going through Belgian courts, the case was referred to the European Court of Justice for a ruling.
The Diarra case, which is supported by the global players’ union FIFPro, went through FIFA judicial bodies before the 2016 election of FIFA president Gianni Infantino, who has made it a priority to modernize transfer market rules.