Breach or Bad Luck? Arsenal's Fight For Variable Sell-On Clauses In Transfer Agreements
On 26 February 2020, Arsenal were sanctioned by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee for including “variable sell-on clauses” in the transfer agreements of Chuba Akpom and Joel Campbell to FC Paok Thessaloniki (Greece) and Frosinone Calcio (Italy) respectively[1]. The clauses were held to have violated FIFA’s regulations prohibiting third party influence[2]. Arsenal appealed the decision to the FIFA Appeal Committee[3], but were denied. They have now appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
This article examines the case and its repercussions, looking specifically at:
- What are “variable sell on clauses”?
- Facts of the Case
- The Disciplinary Committee’s decision
- The Appeal Committee’s decision
- Analysis of the treatment of similar clauses in transfer agreements
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- Tags: Arsenal | Commercial Law | Contract Law | Dispute Resolution | FIFA | FIFA Appeal Committee | FIFA Disciplinary Committee | Football | Manchester City | Real Madrid | Regulation & Governance | Regulations on Status and Transfers of Players (RSTP) | Sports | Transfer Agreements | Transfers | United Kingdom (UK)
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Written by
Manan Agrawal
LawInSport
Manan is currently an Editor at LawInSport and is a media, entertainment and sports lawyer. Before joining LawInSport, Manan practiced law at a leading media and entertainment law firm in Mumbai, India.
He is also the organiser of LawInSport's Sports Law Arbitration Moot competition which is hosted by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Marcos Santillana
Marcos is the Marketing and Editorial Associate at LawInSport.
Prior to joining LawInSport, Marcos undertook a 12-month legal internship with one of the largest anti-slavery organisations in the world, International Justice Mission, at their field office in La Paz, Bolivia. He graduated with an LLM in Commercial & Corporate law from Queen Mary University of London in 2020.
