Ligue 2. The legal headache of the players at the end of the contract. Sport

How many players are affected?

In France, player contracts expire on June 30 of the last season provided for in the transaction, according to the Professional Football Charter. However, on this date, the 2019/20 season will not be over. The Professional Football League (LFP) hopes that the ten remaining days can be contested from June 17.

Problem: around 300 players in the French Championship will be theoretically free by June 30, 2020, almost half of them in Ligue 1, according to figures communicated by the League. Out of some 1,300 professionals, just under a quarter are affected.

Is automatic extension possible?

No, you have to imperatively and necessarily the individual agreement of the salaried player, answers Denis Provost, lawyer at Fidal. No automatic carry forward CDD is not possible, even if it has been suspended in a period of partial unemployment, he insists.

Football authorities can simply make recommendations, such as Fifa which offers extension of contracts until the effective end of the season, without being able to impose it. Same in France: Neither the League nor the club may require a player to extend his employment contract beyond June 30 under the same conditions, and the player will be free not to sign, explains Me Sevan Karian, another lawyer specializing in sports law.

If possible, what options are available?

Either sign an amendment modifying the expiry date of the initial contract, or write another contract from July 1 to the end of the effective season. The second option may be more protective legally, because the former has a risk of requalification into an open-ended employment contract, points Me Provost. But, he adds, the League and the legal committee may advocate or even impose a turnkey solution.

As for the LFP, where a working group is working on the subject, we reply that several options are considered. But it is still too early to communicate because it is only once the deconfinement procedures are known and the recovery scenario has been implemented, that this file will naturally be treated..

Is the player in a position of strength?

Theoretically, yes. But the extension of contract benefits both clubs and players, note the lawyers asked by the AFP. Given the context, I really find it hard to imagine that agents or players are trying to take advantage of the situation to renegotiate their contract upwards over this small additional period, if it finally comes into existence, anticipates Me Karian.

If he refuses to extend or if it requires conditions that would collapse the negotiation, we don’t see what else he could do, says Me Provost. According to him, indeed, a player will not be able to finish the 2019-20 season with another club.

Can a player sign in another club on July 1st?

He can sign a contract, but will have to wait until next season to honor him, because the effective date must be imperatively included during the registration period following the end of the current contract, according to the regulations. Even free, a player cannot be registered with his new club if the transfer window is not open, rephrases Me Karian. The transfer will only be approved for the 2020-21 season, abounds Mr. Provost.

By blocking the transfer period, the instances therefore benefit from a means of pressure on the players. The latter are also dependent, in the event of transfer abroad, on the exit voucher granted by the Federation where they operate. In France, any player wishing to play in a foreign club must therefore obtain an exit authorization from the FFF, after advice from the League.

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