Case C-209/23, RRC Sports: Request for a preliminary ruling from the Landgericht Mainz (Germany) lodged on 31 March 2023 — FT and RRC Sports GmbH v Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)
Date: 2023-03-31
Institutions: Court of Justice
Subjects: cartel, data protection, data-processing law, dominant position, freedom to provide services, gaming, remuneration of work, sports body








C_2023235EN.01001102.xml










3.7.2023   


EN


Official Journal of the European Union


C 235/11






Request for a preliminary ruling from the Landgericht Mainz (Germany) lodged on 31 March 2023 — FT and RRC Sports GmbH v Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)
(Case C-209/23, RRC Sports)
(2023/C 235/17)
Language of the case: German

Referring court

Landgericht Mainz

Parties to the main proceedings


Applicants: FT, RRC Sports GmbH

Defendant: Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)

Question referred

Must Article 101 TFEU (prohibition on cartels), Article 102 TFEU (prohibition on abuse of a dominant position) and Article 56 TFEU (freedom to provide services) and also Article 6 of the General Data Protection Regulation (1) be interpreted as precluding rules adopted by a world sporting association (in this case: FIFA), to which 211 national sports federations of the relevant sport (in this case: football) belong, and whose rules are therefore binding in any event on the majority of the actors active in the respective national professional leagues of the relevant sport (in this case: clubs (which also means football clubs organised as capital companies), players (who are club members) and players’ agents), and which have the following content:






(1)


it is prohibited to agree on players’ agents’ remuneration, or pay them remuneration, in excess of a cap calculated as a percentage of the transfer fee or the annual remuneration of that player,
as provided for in Article 15(2) of the FIFA Football Agent Regulations (‘the FFAR’),










(2)


it is prohibited for third parties to pay remuneration due under a representation agreement in respect of the players’ agent’s contracting partner,
as provided for in Article 14(2) and (3) of the FFAR,










(3)


clubs are prohibited from paying more than 50 % of the total remuneration due from the player and the club for the services of the players’ agent in cases where a players’ agent acts on behalf of the engaging club and the player,
as provided for in Article 14(10) of the FFAR,










(4)


for the grant of a licence as a players’ agent, which is a condition for being allowed to provide players’ agent services, it is required that the applicant submit to the internal regulations of the world sporting association (in this case: the FFAR, the FIFA Statutes, the FIFA Disciplinary Code, the FIFA Code of Ethics, the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players as well as the statutes, regulations, guidelines and decisions of authorities and bodies) and also to its jurisdiction as an association and that of confederations and member associations,
as provided for in Article 4(2), Article 16(2)(b) and Article 20 of the FFAR, in conjunction with Article 8(3), Article 57(1) and Article 58(1) and (2) of the FIFA Statutes, Article 5(a), Article 49 and Article 53(3) of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, and Article 4(2) and Article 82(1) of the Code of Ethics,










(5)


requirements are laid down for the grant of a licence as a players’ agent, under which the grant of a licence is permanently excluded in the case of convictions or settlements in criminal proceedings or a suspension of two years or more, licence suspension or withdrawal, or other disqualification by an authority or a sports governing body, without the possibility of the licence being granted at a later date,
as provided for in Article 5(1)(a)(ii) and (iii) of the FFAR,










(6)


players’ agents are prohibited, in connection with the conclusion of a transfer agreement and/or a contract of employment, from providing players’ agent services or any other services to, and being remunerated for them, by:






(a)


the releasing club and the engaging club,










(b)


the releasing club and the player,










(c)


any parties involved (releasing club, engaging club and player),




as provided for respectively in Article 12(8) and (9) of the FFAR, and










(6a)


players’ agents are prohibited, in connection with the conclusion of a transfer agreement and/or a contract of employment together with a connected players’ agent, from providing players’ agent services or any other services to, and being remunerated for them, by:






(a)


the releasing club and the engaging club,










(b)


the releasing club and the player,










(c)


any parties involved (releasing club, engaging club and player),




if the concept of connected players’ agent includes cooperation in accordance with the definition of ‘connected football agent’ laid down in the FFAR (fourth subparagraph on p. 6 of the FFAR),
as provided for in Article 12(10) of the FFAR, in conjunction with the definition of ‘connected football agent’ in the fourth subparagraph on p. 6 of the FFAR,










(7)


players’ agents are prohibited from approaching or entering into a representation agreement with a club, player, or member association of the world sporting association or a legal person operating a single-entity league which is permitted to engage players’ agents and which have entered into an exclusive agreement with another players’ agent,
as provided for in Article 16(1)(b) and (c) of the FFAR,










(8)


the names and details of all players’ agents, the names of the clients whom they represent, the players’ agent services which they provide to each individual client and/or the details of all transactions involving players’ agents, including the amount of remuneration payable to players’ agents, must be uploaded to a platform of the world sporting association and this information is made available in part to other clubs, players or players’ agents,
as provided for in Article 19 of the FFAR,










(9)


it is prohibited to agree remuneration for players’ agent services on any other basis than the player’s remuneration or the transfer fee,
as provided for in Article 15(1) of the FFAR,










(10)


it is presumed that other services provided by a players’ agent or a connected players’ agent in the 24 months prior to or following the provision of a players’ agent service to a client involved in the transaction for which player agency services were performed form part of the player agent’s services and, in so far that the presumption cannot be rebutted, remuneration for the other services is deemed to form part of the remuneration paid for the players’ agent service,
as provided for in Article 15(3) and (4) of the FFAR,










(11)


the amount of the players’ agent’s remuneration to be calculated on a pro-rata basis is to be based solely on the salary actually received by the player,
as provided for in Article 14(7) and (12) of the FFAR,










(12)


players’ agents are required to disclose the following information to the world sporting association:






(a)


within 14 days of conclusion: any agreement with a client other than a representation agreement, including but not limited to other services, and the information requested on the platform,










(b)


within 14 days of payment of remuneration: the information requested on the platform,










(c)


within 14 days of payment of any remuneration related to any agreement with a client other than a representation agreement: the information requested on the platform,










(d)


within 14 days of occurrence: any contractual or other arrangement between players’ agents to cooperate in the provision of any services or to share the revenue or profits of any part of their players’ agent services,










(e)


if they conduct their business affairs through an agency, within 14 days of the first transaction involving the agency: the number of players’ agents who use the same agency to conduct their business affairs and the name of all its employees,




as provided for in Article 16(2)(j)(ii) to (v) and (k)(ii) of the FFAR,










(13)


clubs are prohibited from agreeing on remuneration or elements of remuneration with players’ agents for the future transfer of a player or from paying remuneration or elements of remuneration to players’ agents, the calculation basis for which is (also) dependent on future transfer compensation received by the club from a subsequent transfer of the player,
as provided for in Article 18ter(1), first alternative, of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (‘the FIFA RSTP’) and Article 16(3)(e) of the FFAR.






(1)  Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation) (OJ 2016 L 119, p. 1).