Sports advocate clarified in interview with Sky: UK employment laws allow footballers who conclude a contract to leave their teams, even if the rest of the leagues are automatically extended
Last Tuesday, FIFA recommended that football player contracts that should end at the end of the season be automatically extended until the leagues can be terminated due to the Corona epidemic. However, a senior sports lawyer in England said such a regulation would not apply to Premier League players in light of employment laws In the state. “Players will be free to leave on June 30,” he argued Nick de Marco In an interview published Friday in Sky.”If their contract is over, no one can force players to continue playing at the club. By law, they may leave. But that depends on the circumstances of each case,” explained de Marco, who has represented footballers, clubs and agents since 2002. “If the transfer window is Closed at the same time, they may not find another group and in that case, they might prefer to wait two or three months. ”
FIFA has announced that it will show flexibility in the transfer window and allow it to be postponed for the period between the end of the current season and the opening of the next season, while trying to coordinate the various leagues. If it does not open until August or September, it will be very unfair to players who conclude a contract in June and to some clubs, who will be desperate to release players, “said de Marco.
Nick De Marco QC insists FIFA’s recommendations of contract extensions cannot be enforced under English employment law.
– Sky Sports (@SkySports) April 10, 2020
So what’s the solution? “One of the suggested ideas is to allow players to sign a preliminary contract,” the lawyer continued, “so if a player does not want to sign for two months temporarily, he can sign for three years at another club but the contract will only take effect two months later. Integrity issues. No easy solution. “
It was clear from the beginning of the epidemic that the clubs would be hit financially and this would also affect the transfer market, but De Marco made it clear that players’ price tags are not the only thing that will change: “There will probably be the biggest impact on salaries. Sell at a loss, which will increase the gaps between the rich clubs and the rest and it’s not good for football. ”
