Frequently asked questions
General
FIFA transfer rules make it very difficult for footballers to terminate their contracts and sign with a new club before their contract expires. The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled that these rules violate your rights as a worker and caused damage to all players. We are taking legal action against FIFA on behalf of professional footballers to compensation players for the loss of earnings caused by FIFA’s transfer rules.
FIFA’s transfer rules have been in place since 2001. The Diarra case, which led to the Court’s landmark ruling, began in 2014. That case involved French footballer Lassana Diarra, who terminated his contract with Lokomotiv Moscow after a dispute. FIFA fined him over €10.5 million and blocked him from joining a new club. Diarra, with the support of FIFPRO Europe and FIFPRO World, took the case to court and eventually won. Our foundation was incorporated in response to that decision.
Any professional footballer who played in the European Union or the U.K. between 2002 and today is eligible, regardless of his or her nationality.
FIFA’s rules limit your freedom to choose where you play and are in breach of EU competition law. They lock you into contracts, and give FIFA and the national football associations an enormous amount of power. Research shows that these restrictions caused players to earn on average approximately 8 percent less than they would otherwise.
We hope to retrieve compensation for players and to increase their bargaining power and freedom to transfer, while favoring a fairer and inclusive governance of the labor market.
No, your participation is completely confidential. The information you upload will not be shared with FIFA, the national football associations, or your club. We treat your data with the utmost care and use it solely for the purpose for which you provided it. In some cases, the court may request access to this information. We will only share your information if it is strictly necessary for conducting the legal proceedings.
The lawsuit
We are leading a collective legal action against FIFA and five national football associations. Our goal is to strengthen the (bargaining) power of players and limit FIFA’s influence, while ensuring that affected players receive fair compensation.
First, we want footballers, just like any other workers, to be free to manage their careers, and limit the power of FIFA, putting footballers back in control. Secondly , we are seeking compensation for all players whose income has been affected by these rules since 2002.
We expect to file the summons in Q1 of 2026.
We expect a first ruling on the substance of the case in 2029. This timing, however, depends on the court, the FIFA and the other defendants.
Yes, the RSTP also apply to professional female footballers. Justice for Players Foundation represents all players who have been affected by FIFA’s restrictive transfer rules, regardless of gender.
The Dutch law firm Finch Dispute Resolution is representing our foundation. They specialise in class actions. We are also advised by Dupont-Hissel, the Belgian law firm that handled the Bosman and Diarra cases, as well as the European Super League case.
FIFA’s transfer rules violate two key principles of European law: the right to free movement of workers (Article 45 TFEU), and the ban on anti-competitive practices (Article 101 TFEU). The Court of Justice of the EU confirmed this in its Diarra ruling.
There have been previous cases brought by individual players (like Bosman and Diarra), but this is the first collective action ever to confront FIFA over its transfer rules with thousands of players seeking compensation at once. Since 2014, EU law (Directive 2014/104) provides the obligation to fully compensate all victims of EU competition law violations.
Compensation and costs
That depends on the outcome of this legal action. We expect a first substantive ruling in 2029.
Our research shows that players earned on average approximately 8 percent of their salary less than they should have (to which interest should be added). But your individual compensation depends on many factors: how long you played, your earnings, the countries you played in, the interest applicable, and more. The court will decide how compensation is calculated and distributed.
There is no cost to joining this legal action, with all of the legal fees paid for by Deminor, a third party litigation funder. If the legal action is successful, Justice for Players will withhold a maximum of 25% of the awarded damages plus the costs of the proceedings. If the legal action is not successful, nothing will be owed. In no event will you need to pay for participating in this action. On this page, we explain how the compensation for the funders is determined.
All legal costs are covered by Deminor Litigation Funding, a specialist in collective actions. They shoulder every euro of risk. Only if we win and compensation is awarded will Deminor be entitled to a fee for the risk they have taken. The foundation Justice for Players is non-profit and does not earn any money from this case.
Deminor covers the full cost of the legal action in first instance, including all legal, expert and operational expenses of the foundation.
Sign up
Simply fill out the form on our website. You’ll be asked to sign a participation agreement that clearly sets out your rights and obligations.
Any professional footballer (man or woman) who was active in the European Union or the U.K. between 2002 and today.
Under The act on collective damages claims (WAMCA), the opt-out system applies. This means all players who suffered damages and are residing in the Netherlands at the time of a judgment on the admissibility of the foundation are automatically part of this lawsuit, unless they explicitly say they don’t want to be included. Players who are residents of the Netherlands don’t need to take any action to participate. Only if you don’t want to be represented by our foundation, you’ll need to file an opt-out declaration.
If you don’t reside in the Netherlands, but transferred from, to or between European clubs, then this claim is also brought on your behalf. Because you are not a Dutch resident, you need to let us know that you want to join the action. You can sign up here.
If we succeed, we will need your details to pay you compensation.
Yes. You can cancel your registration within 60 days of signing the participation agreement. After that, your registration with the foundation becomes irrevocable. We explain this in the participation agreement. You can view and download the standard withdrawal form here.
We use your personal information for the purposes of this lawsuit and for the purposes described in our privacy statement. We will never sell your data. All personal data will be deleted once the case ends. You can read our full privacy policy on the website.
You can reach us at [email protected]. We’ll get back to you as quickly as possible.