Tuesday, August 19, 2025 - Lawyers for Lassana Diarra have revealed that the former France international is seeking 65 million euros ($76 million) from FIFA and the Belgian football federation after a landmark legal victory over transfer rules.
Diarra's decade-long challenge to FIFA after a breakdown in
relations with his former club Lokomotiv Moscow led to a ruling at the European
Court of Justice last October that some aspects of football's transfer rules do
not comply with the 27-nation European Union's labor and competition laws.
Lawyers for the 40-year-old
former Chelsea, Arsenal, and Real Madrid midfielder cited
"unsuccessful settlement negotiations with FIFA" for the financial
claim for damages throughout his career.
"Lassana Diarra is claiming €65m gross (€35m net) in
compensation from FIFA and the Belgian Football Association," his legal
firm Dupont Hissel said in a statement.
FIFA said it would not comment about "on-going legal
matters" -- the latest high-stakes legal challenge to its authority.
Football's governing body said in a statement it "has
been working with its stakeholders to amend its regulations following the
guidance offered by the ECJ."
Diarra's case, which is back in court in Belgium, is
supported by the global players' union FIFPRO, its European division, and their
national member union in France.
The legal case started in the home country of Charleroi, the
Belgian club that wanted to sign Diarra after his contract in Moscow was
terminated.
FIFA transfer rules at the time made the player and the
potential signing club liable for paying the former club when a contract was
ruled to have been broken without "just cause."
The Court of Arbitration for Sport upheld FIFA's ruling in
favor of Lokomotiv.
The case was sent to the European court in Luxembourg which
said some aspects of the FIFA rules "hinder the free movement of players
and competition between clubs."
Diarra's dispute with Lokomotiv and FIFA forced him to miss
the 2014-15 season. He then signed for Marseille and ended his career
at Paris Saint-Germain six years ago.
"I am doing this for myself," Diarra said in
a statement Monday published by his lawyers. "And if I have been able to
hold out against the FIFA steamroller, it is because I had a good career."
"But I have also done it for all the
up-and-coming, lesser known players who do not have the financial and
psychological means to challenge FIFA before real judges," he said.
Diarra's lawyers are also working on a class action suit
filed this month against FIFA and some national soccer federations in Europe
which claims could benefit 100,000 players over more than two decades.
0 Comments