C 235/12
EN
Official Journal of the European Union
3.7.2023
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),