The case involves a contractual dispute between Beşiktaş AŞ, a Turkish football club, and Jeremain Marciano Lens, a professional football player, over unpaid salaries and image rights fees during the 2019/2020 season, which was disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The dispute was brought before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after the player contested the club's unilateral decision to deduct 15% of his remuneration for March, April, and May 2020, citing financial difficulties caused by the pandemic. The key legal issue was whether the pandemic constituted a force majeure event under Turkish law, justifying the salary reduction.
The employment contract between the parties, signed in 2017 and extended until 2022, stipulated fixed salaries and image rights payments. Following the WHO's declaration of the pandemic in March 2020, the Turkish Football Federation suspended competitions, which resumed in June 2020. During the suspension, the club proposed a settlement agreement to waive half of the player's unpaid remuneration, but he refused. The club then unilaterally deducted 15% of his total remuneration, arguing financial strain. The player challenged this, asserting the club had no legal basis to withhold payments.
The arbitrator examined whether the pandemic qualified as force majeure under Turkish law, noting that FIFA had not universally recognized COVID-19 as such but left it to case-by-case analysis. The Turkish Supreme Court's interpretation requires force majeure to directly affect the employee's ability to work, not just the employer's finances. The arbitrator concluded the pandemic did not prevent the player from fulfilling his duties, as matches resumed, and the club's financial struggles did not meet legal force majeure criteria. Thus, the deduction was deemed unjustified.
The FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) partially accepted the player's claim, ordering the club to pay €390,000 plus interest, rejecting the club's argument that the pandemic justified the reduction. The DRC emphasized that financial hardship alone does not constitute force majeure and upheld the principle of pacta sunt servanda (agreements must be kept). The club appealed to CAS, arguing significant revenue losses and good faith in proposing the reduction, which most employees accepted. However, the CAS Sole Arbitrator upheld the DRC's decision, finding the club failed to prove the pandemic legally excused non-payment or that national law authorized such deductions.
The arbitrator noted the league was suspended for only two months, making a retroactive season-wide reduction unreasonable. The club's financial struggles, partly pre-dating the pandemic, were deemed insufficient to justify unilateral changes. The player fulfilled his contractual obligations, and Turkish labor courts had ruled against pandemic-related salary cuts. The CAS dismissed the club's appeal, ordering payment of the outstanding amount plus interest, reinforcing contractual obligations and the limited applicability of force majeure in employment disputes under Turkish law. The decision underscores the importance of proportionality and evidence in pandemic-related salary adjustments, setting a precedent for similar disputes.