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.



Bayern Munich Celebrates Bundesliga Title with Last Home Win for Thomas Müller

Thomas Mueller (C-R) of Bayern Munich celebrates the German Bundesliga championship title after the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Bayern Munich  and Borussia Moenchengladbach in Munich, Germany, 10 May 2025. EPA/RONALD WITTEK
Thomas Mueller (C-R) of Bayern Munich celebrates the German Bundesliga championship title after the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Moenchengladbach in Munich, Germany, 10 May 2025. EPA/RONALD WITTEK
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Bayern Munich Celebrates Bundesliga Title with Last Home Win for Thomas Müller

Thomas Mueller (C-R) of Bayern Munich celebrates the German Bundesliga championship title after the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Bayern Munich  and Borussia Moenchengladbach in Munich, Germany, 10 May 2025. EPA/RONALD WITTEK
Thomas Mueller (C-R) of Bayern Munich celebrates the German Bundesliga championship title after the German Bundesliga soccer match between FC Bayern Munich and Borussia Moenchengladbach in Munich, Germany, 10 May 2025. EPA/RONALD WITTEK

Thomas Müller led Bayern Munich's Bundesliga title celebrations after helping the team beat Borussia Mönchengladbach 2-0 in his last home game for the club on Saturday.
After being presented with the trophy, Bayern captain Manuel Neuer gave it to Müller to hoist toward the Munich sky and start the confetti-filled revelry, The Associated Press reported.
There was another outpouring of emotion when Harry Kane got his chance to lift the “salad bowl” — it's the England captain's first team trophy after a career of near-misses.
Bayern won its record-extending 34th German championship title last weekend.
Michael Olise made sure of Saturday's win by scoring one goal and setting up the other for Kane's league-leading 25th of the season to get the party underway in Munich.
Relegation decided Bochum and Holstein Kiel were relegated while Leipzig’s hopes of Champions League qualification ended after drawing at Werder Bremen 0-0.
Last-placed Bochum lost at home to Mainz 4-1, and Kiel lost at home 2-1 to Freiburg, which consolidated fourth place and was poised for Champions League qualification.
Leipzig’s scoreless draw in Bremen left it four points behind Freiburg with one round remaining, meaning it can no longer qualify for Europe's lucrative premier competition.
Neither Bochum nor Kiel have any possibility of catching third-from-bottom Heidenheim following the latter’s 3-0 win at Union Berlin. Heidenheim made sure of at least a relegation playoff place.
With one game left to play, Bochum had 22 points, Kiel 25, and Heidenheim 29 – just two behind St. Pauli, which had two matches remaining. St. Pauli plays its penultimate match at third-placed Eintracht Frankfurt on Sunday.
It's Bochum’s seventh demotion from the top division. The club was promoted to the Bundesliga as the second division champion in 2021, ending an 11-year absence from the top division.
Bochum defeated Bayern 3-2 away in March, but it was Dieter Hecking’s team’s only win in its last 11 games.
“I’ve been relegated before, it’s anything but nice. You could see it with the lads, tears were flowing,” Bochum captain Maximilian Wittek said. “It’s among the worst things that can happen in football.”
Kiel also gone Kiel was promoted for the first time only last season and coach Marcel Rapp’s team has quickly returned to the second division.
Kiel scored first but Johan Manzambi equalized before the break and Lucas Höler headed Freiburg toward the Champions League.
Freiburg moved four points clear of Borussia Dortmund, which visits Bayer Leverkusen on Sunday for Xabi Alonso’s last home game as Leverkusen coach. A Leverkusen win would send Freiburg to the Champions League.
Hamburg returns After seven years away, Hamburger SV clinched its return to the Bundesliga by routing Ulm 6-1 in Germany’s second division.