The case involves a dispute between Turkish football club Altay SK and professional football player Andreas Tatos, centered on the termination of their employment contract due to unpaid salaries and related financial claims. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) issued an award on 27 January 2022, addressing the legal issues arising from the player's termination of his contract with the club. The player had signed two contracts with Altay SK: the first from January 2019 to May 2020 and the second from June 2020 to May 2021. An amendment agreement modified the remuneration terms for the 2019-2020 season, but the club failed to meet its payment obligations. On 8 July 2020, the player sent a default notice citing unpaid salaries and subsequently terminated the contract with just cause. The FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) ruled in favor of the player, awarding him overdue payables and compensation. The club appealed this decision to CAS.
The CAS panel, led by sole arbitrator Lars Hilliger, upheld the FIFA DRC's decision, emphasizing that a player can terminate a fixed-term employment contract with just cause if the club fails to pay salaries, provided the player has formally put the club in default as per Article 14bis of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP). The club bore the burden of proving it had fulfilled its payment obligations but failed to provide translated documents as required by CAS rules. The player was entitled to compensation under Article 17 RSTP, including overdue payables and the remaining salary for the contract period, based on the principle of "positive interest." Bonuses were only payable if the player met specific performance criteria. The panel rejected the club's argument that the player lacked standing to be sued alone, noting that the FIFA DRC had acted within its adjudicatory capacity. The panel also clarified that Article 24bis RSTP mandates automatic consequences for clubs failing to pay, including a ban on registering new players until the debt is settled, for up to three registration periods. The panel corrected typographical errors in the appealed decision's operative part and dismissed the club's appeal, affirming the FIFA DRC's ruling in favor of the player.
The dispute arose from the club's failure to meet its financial obligations under the contract, including unpaid salaries and bonuses. The player sought compensation totaling EUR 290,000, broken down into unpaid installments (EUR 170,000), monthly salaries (EUR 100,000), and performance-based bonuses (EUR 20,000). The player also requested FIFA to declare the contract unilaterally terminated due to the club's failure to meet financial obligations. FIFA's DRC examined the case and found that the player had just cause to terminate the contract, as the club had failed to pay multiple monthly salaries and did not respond to a default notice. The DRC ruled that the club was liable for the early termination and ordered it to pay the player EUR 60,000 for unpaid salaries, EUR 12,000 for accommodation, EUR 20,000 for additional outstanding remuneration, and TRY 6,000 for rental payments, plus 5% annual interest on the unpaid amounts. The DRC also considered compensation for breach of contract under Article 17 of FIFA's regulations, noting that the contract lacked a predefined compensation clause. The decision emphasized the principle of pacta sunt servanda (agreements must be kept) and considered factors such as remaining contract duration and sport-specific criteria in determining compensation.
The CAS proceedings involved the appointment of a sole arbitrator and addressed preliminary objections before proceeding to the merits of the case. The club argued that it had fulfilled its payment obligations, but the arbitrator found that the club failed to provide sufficient evidence, particularly as some documents were not translated into English as required by procedural rules. The arbitrator concluded that the player had just cause to terminate the contract due to the club's payment defaults. The decision also addressed the financial consequences of the termination, including the player's entitlement to compensation for breach of contract under Article 17(1) of the FIFA Regulations. The player had signed a new contract with Xanthi FC, earning EUR 23,830 for the overlapping period, which was deducted from the compensation. The total compensation for breach was set at EUR 250,000, consistent with the FIFA DRC's decision. Additionally, the arbitrator upheld the provision for an additional compensation of EUR 23