Bosman ruling
In
football (soccer), the
Bosman ruling is one that allows
professional football players in the
European Union to
move freely to another club at the end of their term of contract with their present team.
Jean-Marc Bosman was a player in the
Belgian Second Division, whose contract had expired in
1990. He wanted to change teams and move to
Dunkerque, a French team. However, Dunkerque didn't offer his Belgian club
RFC Liège enough of a transfer fee, so Liège refused to let him go.
In the meantime, Bosman's wages were reduced as he was no longer a first-team player. He took his case to the
European Court of Justice in
Luxembourg and sued for restraint of trade. After a tough legal battle he won his case, and on
December 15,
1995 the court gave him and all other EU football players the right to a
free transfer at the end of their contracts, with the provision that they were transferring from one EU Federation to another. Previous to that, professional clubs (with the exception of Spanish clubs) were able to prevent players from joining another club even if their contracts had expired. In addition to this, a player can sign a pre-contract with another club for a free transfer if the players' contract with their existing club has 6 months or less remaining. The Bosman ruling can be compared to the
Curt Flood case in baseball, which led to the elimination of the
reserve clause and the advent of
free agency.
The Bosman ruling also prohibited domestic football leagues in EU member states, and also
UEFA, from imposing quotas on foreign players to the extent that they discriminated against nationals of EU states. At that time, many leagues placed quotas restricting the number of non-nationals allowed on member teams. Also, UEFA had a rule that prohibited teams in its competitions, namely the
Champions League,
Cup Winners' Cup and
UEFA Cup, from naming more than three "foreign" players in their matchday squads. This had an especially negative impact on
British teams, because both UEFA and
FIFA consider
England,
Northern Ireland,
Scotland and
Wales to be separate nations. As an example,
Manchester United were forced to count their
Welsh winger
Ryan Giggs as a foreign player, despite the fact that Wales and England are both constituents of the
UK, and comprise
a single entity for purposes of
conflict of laws. After the ruling, quotas could still be imposed, but could only be used to restrict the number of non-EU players on each team.
On
April 21,
2005, UEFA 52 member federations unanimously approved a rule designed to increase the number of locally trained players. The measure is an attempt to reverse some of the effects of the Bosman ruling. UEFA's chief executive
Lars-Christer Olsson was reported by CNN to have said that some of the major clubs in Europe like
Chelsea and
Barcelona were not happy with this rule, and that he didn't rule out the possibility of a court challenge.
An addendum to this rule means that a player may move in the final year of a four or five year contract provided he hands in a request to the club no more than 15 days after the end of the previous season. The club would be entitled to compensation, but only equaling the amount of the final year's wages as per the contract, which would be far less than an agreed transfer fee in most cases.
Wigan look set to become the first club to implement this new ruling as they attempt to sign
Andy Webster from
Hearts.
*
Cantera, the Spanish system of local grown players.
*
Seitz decision, the 1975 ruling by U.S. labor arbitrator
Peter Seitz that ended the reserve clause in U.S. baseball
*
Text of the ECJ Ruling
