Abstract
The specific focus of this article is on present and future contractual relations between footballers and their clubs, with an examination of arguments that players should have the 'right' unilaterally to terminate contracts providing compensation is paid to the current club. The article also seeks to make sense of the changing relationship between players and clubs within the cultural and economic transformation in football - particularly with regard to the issues of the traditional self-regulation of sports governing bodies and the implementation of effective internal governance. The major contentions of the article are that the current transfer system in the domestic leagues should be reformed along the lines of the current FIFA rules; Transfer windows should be abolished and the rules defining what constitutes an unlawful approach to a player should be significantly revised. Finally, resolution of the tensions between self governance and external regulation could be achieved by the application of reflexive regulatory theory to abolish, or at least reform, the transfer system throughout the EU.
Highlights
Resolution of the tensions between self governance and external regulation could be achieved by the application of reflexive regulatory theory to abolish, or at least reform, the transfer system throughout the EU
The incident cast doubt on the original assumption, in the aftermath of Bosman, that Article 39 only applied to out of contract players. It generated debate over the legal validity of the transfer system within the framework of EU law. It has been contended by Roger Blanpain) that the transfer system is a form of slavery, and that players should be freed from the shackles it provides to enable clubs to tie players to them for the entire period of their contracts
One possible variation to the current Fédération Internationale de Football (FIFA) rules would be, on the expiry of a contract’s protected period or where the contract is terminated for sporting just cause, to permit contract-jumping during a season if a player has negotiated a move to a club which is in a different league, and which is not in competition with his current club
Summary
Resolution of the tensions between self governance and external regulation could be achieved by the application of reflexive regulatory theory to abolish, or at least reform, the transfer system throughout the EU. Under Article 17 of the FIFA rules, once the protected period has expired, a player is able to terminate his contract in order to join a new club provided compensation is paid to his current club.
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