Ex-Arsenal and Chelsea star could blow transfer market wide open as 'massive' news confirmed
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A former defensive midfielder who turned out for both Chelsea and Arsenal is at the centre of a regulatory storm that has the potential to change football forever.
Increasingly, football is being played out in the arbitration courts as much as it is on the pitch, with several high-profile cases having the potential to define the modern game.
Chelsea and Arsenal were the architects of the European Super League plot in 2021, which – although the two Premier League clubs have abandoned the plot – has seen attempts to revive it in the legal system.
Elsewhere, the Premier League has been fighting Man City in the arbitration courts on not one but two counts.
Of course, the most prominent example is the Premier League‘s decision to charge City with 115 counts of financial misconduct, relating to alleged PSR breaches and failure to provide accurate financial data.
But there has also been City’s countersuit against the Premier League in the form of a challenge to their associated party transaction (APT) rules.
Chelsea are believed to be backing City in that fight, while Arsenal have taken the opposite stance.
Now, the European Court of Justice, the same institution that recently rules that FIFA and UEFA’s move to block the Super League was unlawful, has delivered another landmark verdict.
FIFA suffer major blow; transfer system could be overthrown
As a player Lassana Diarra, turned out for nine different clubs in a 15-year career, as well as winning 36 caps for France.
In the early stages of his career, he played 31 times for Chelsea and won both the League Cup and FA Cup with them in 2006-07.
After that season, he moved to Arsenal, where he played 13 times in six months before joining Portsmouth after becoming frustrated at his lack of playing time at the Emirates.
He went on to play for several other high-profile clubs including Real Madrid and Paris Saint-Germain, but recent developments may mean his legacy is vey much off the pitch.
Today, the European Court of Justice has ruled in favour of the now-retired 39-year-old after a long-running dispute with FIFA over the circumstances of his exit from Lokomotiv Moscow in 2014.
FIFA’s refusal to provide Diarra with an international transfer certificate for a move to Belgian side Charleroi after the termination of his deal with Lokomotiv was unlawful under the EU’s freedom of movement laws, according to the ECJ.
Essentially, one view of the outcome of the case is that players should be given more autonomy over where they play.
It is being widely compared to the Bosman Ruling of 1995.
Remarking on the verdict on X, sports law expert Antoine Duval said the ruling is “massive”, later saying that it was a “devastating blow to the transfer system as we know it” that will “trigger a profound reform.”
The Lassana Diarra case – what are the implications for Chelsea and Arsenal?
It should be emphasised that Duval’s view of the case is not universally shared by authorities in the field of sports law.
Many commentators, such as The Independent’s Miguel Delaney, have suggested that the Diarra case may merely force FIFA to rewrite Article 17.2, which relates to who is liable to pay compensation when a player’s contract is terminated in circumstances such as Diarra’s.
In terms of how the situation might affect Chelsea and Arsenal specifically, only time will tell to what extent FIFA will have to rewrite their rules to reflect the ECJ’s verdict.
But it will be a headache for the legal and regulatory representatives employed by both London clubs, in any case.
