International

New Bosman, Diarra?

The 10-year transfer case that will probably fundamentally change some rules that give football its pleasure and are of great importance has finally come to an end..

The European Court of Justice has ruled that FIFA’s transfer rules are against European Union law.

Former French international player Lassana Diarra looks set to become the new Bosman with this case and its consequences.

For now, it does not seem like such an important case considering the results and the table, but; the results of the Diarra case will definitely lead to changes in transfer rules at least within the European Union in the future.

If we go into the details of the subject; French football player Lassana Diarra, who signed a 4-year contract with the Russian team Lokomotiv Moscow in 2013, unilaterally terminated his contract due to salary cuts. Then, Lokomotiv applied to FIFA’s dispute resolution board against Diarra and demanded compensation.

Despite Diarra’s counterclaim, the board ruled in Lokomotif’s favor and imposed a fine of 10.5 million Euros on the player. During the same period, Diarra received a contract offer from the Belgian club Charleroi, but the club had a condition for acceptance.

Charleroi wanted to get confirmation from FIFA that Diarra would not be responsible for his financial obligations to Lokomotif.

FIFA did not provide these guarantees because; according to its rules, the international transfer document had to be issued by the league from which a player left, and no agreement could be made without this. Since no payment had been made to Lokomotif at that time, the player could not obtain this permission from the league.

The French player was left without a club for a full year and as a result, in December 2015, Diarra initiated legal proceedings against FIFA and the Belgian league, claiming lost income.

This long process continued until the decision was announced last week.

The decision, which was given as a result of the case between FIFA and Diarra, stated that some of FIFA’s regulations regarding the termination of players’ contracts were contrary to European Union law.

Naturally, this situation will lead to great uncertainties in the world of football.

According to FIFA’s instructions, if a player terminates his contract with his former club for an unjust reason, both the player and the new club could have to pay compensation to the former club, but; the European Court of Justice stated that this regulation hinders the free movement rights of the players.

The European Court of Justice ruled that it restricts the free movement rights of the players within the European Union. In the summary of its decision, the Court of Justice put forward the following reasons under the title that some FIFA rules regarding the international transfers of professional football players are contrary to European Union law.

Firstly, the rules in question have the potential to hinder professional players from developing their skills by working for a new club. These rules pose significant legal risks, unforeseen and potentially very high financial risks and major sporting risks to these players and the clubs that want to employ them, and all these together prevent the international transfer of these players.

Secondly, the court stated that the purpose of these rules is to restrict or prevent cross-border competition by clubs in the European Union transferring players who have contracts with other clubs or who have unfairly terminated their contracts. It also stated that these rules are not necessary or mandatory.

The Luxembourg-based court reasoned that the justification that the rules are necessary for the purpose of ensuring the regularity of sports competitions is insufficient, because they go beyond what is necessary to achieve this purpose.

The case will now return to the Belgian courts, where it will be resolved, as it has been ongoing for 9 years.

The Mons Court of Appeal in Belgium had only asked the European Union Court of Justice for an advisory opinion on this matter.

This decision by the European Union Court of Justice may cause FIFA to make changes to its current rules regarding player transfers and contract terminations.

When a football player applies saying that his right to work is being taken away from me, an approach in favor of the player may be seen more frequently in such termination cases.

According to the valuable Judge of the International Court of Arbitration for Sport Emin Özkurt;

”Here, we see an approach from the European Court of Justice that disrupts FIFA’s order and pushes it towards changing its order. The European Court of Justice says; the fact that you are demanding from both the new club and the player what the previous club will receive with this instruction is, in a sense, a provision that prevents the player from free movement and finding new jobs.”

We can also see that the European Court of Justice has taken a compelling stance to change FIFA’s instructions. It looks like FIFA will have to change the regulation that requires both the player and the new club to pay compensation to the old club when a player’s contract is terminated.

In addition, last week in Switzerland, FIFA’s legal director Emilio Garcia Silvero and this issue was brought up in a November meeting at the International Court of Arbitration for Sport. FIFA officials predicted that this decision of the European Union Court of Justice would be against FIFA and they started working on changes accordingly. There is no concrete situation that directly affects FIFA at the moment, however; changes in accordance with this decision will be made in FIFA instructions in the future.

These changes may especially affect football clubs in Turkey because; according to the reports issued by FIFPRO, we are among the countries that experience the most contract crises between players and clubs and terminate contracts with players. In this case, FIFA, which already ruled in favor of the player, will have to protect the players even more and the situation of preventing the transfer of players who made unfair terminations will be eliminated.

In other words, while our clubs receive a transfer ban for unfair termination and not paying salaries, players will not receive a transfer ban when they do the same.

This was already in the form of compensation and the compensation was given to the new club.

The Court of Justice of the Union, where compensation claims for which the new club is held responsible are no longer encountered as frequently as before, is a clear decision that binds FIFA, despite the fact that it is an association headquartered in Switzerland.

In other words, FIFA will need to make changes to the relevant article in the near future.

For this, FIFPRO and the PFA, the players’ associations, said they were ready to fully negotiate and express their opinions, but FIFA is not listening to others at the moment.

As you know, footballers are angry about the increase in the number of matches; Manuel Akanji, Rodri and later Marc Cucurella openly stated that they suffered from this. When we look at what can change; although it may not be as big a change as the Bosman rule in 1995, scenarios where players can easily leave their clubs by making a unilateral termination at the point where they say “Leave me alone, I’m leaving” are not far off. At the end of the day, it seems like it will end up like a normal worker who can give 2-3 weeks notice and resign, where there are no transfer fees or transfer periods.

From what I have heard and learned from both PFA employees and my lawyer colleagues at FIFPRO, at the end of the day, an extreme system where football players can easily change teams by complying with the minimum contract provisions like any other worker is not far from us. This will deeply shake the football economy, because; transfer fees are one of the biggest sources of income for many clubs..

Recently, FIFA and UEFA, who are trying to restrict the European Super League, have made another decision against them. These may gradually lead to football being liberated from regulatory institutions and moving to a completely different place, and we may see that both the transfer system and the entire football system and order have completely changed with new formats and organizations.

I will talk to experts in the field, both on the European Super League project and on this subject, and then we can focus on these issues in more detail; however; the village in sight does not need a guide. Football has to keep up with the times; and the structures that determine the rules of football have to review all their organizations in a way that will ensure maximum compliance with human health and issues such as work safety through integrations..

Will the practice in America set an example to the world?

In the United States, the “Children’s Online Safety Act” has arrived in the Senate for discussion. In the package presented to the Senate by Senator Richard Blumenthal, a member of the Democratic Party, various regulations are required to be made based on the protection of children over the internet.

While the relevant regulation was coming to the Senate, it received the support of 43 senators, 22 of them Republican and 21 of them Democrat.
So, let’s take a look at the regulations and the anticipated changes in the package.

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*The regulation covers children under the age of 13.
Additional information: The 13-18 age range is referred to as “small” in the regulation, and of course I will refer to it as such, of course, only for this text..

Let’s move on to the review..

*In this context, the obligation to prevent minors from being harmed is introduced;
—A closed or online platform covered by this text will act in the interests of a user that it knows or should reasonably know to be a minor; and
will be compelled to take reasonable measures to prevent and mitigate, both in the design and operation of its products and services, or face imprisonment.

If the following situations are detected within online and closed platforms, the content provider will be imprisoned;

• Consistent with evidence-based medical information, it opens the door to mental health disorders such as;
• Anxiety, depression, eating disorders, substance use disorders and suicidal behaviors.
• Patterns of use that encourage or encourage addiction-like behavior.
• Physical violence, online bullying and harassment of minors (13, 18 years old).
• Sexual exploitation and abuse-oriented content
• Promotion and marketing of narcotic drugs (as defined in section 102 of the Controlled Substances Act), tobacco products, gambling or alcohol.
• Disruptive, unfair or deceptive marketing practices or practices that are prone to other financial losses

*Within the scope of Precautions for Minors;

A secure platform will be created and this platform will include the address where the minor or minor unintentionally enters or is directed; child and/or minor
Provide easily accessible and easy-to-use security measures, as appropriate, to a person who knows, or should reasonably know, a minor.

Penalty for the same platform;
If a platform that appeals to more than 10,000,000 members on the basis of the USA is reported, it will be within 7 powers at the latest.
If it has no more than 10,000,000 members on the US basis, it will be finalized within 21 days at the latest in case of reporting.

*To circumvent or manipulate the user interface of any digital platform, an inclusive platform, the user’s autonomy, decision-making or choice
It will be unlawful to design, modify or manipulate it with the intent or to significant effect. required under the relevant parts of this bill.
No hacking changes can be made to disable security measures or activities that undermine parental controls.

Veee, here comes the part that I like the most, which I have been waiting for eagerly, and now this change proposal;
With the draft; An Online Safety Council for Children is being established. Wonderful !

In this council;
Closed and digital platform representatives,
Expert NGO members,
state attorneys general
Ministry officials,
Parents,
Youth representatives,
Representatives of socially disadvantaged groups,
Expert academics and health representatives will take place.

I have full knowledge of all the details of the subject and as I said, I am looking forward to the discussions in the Senate and the continuation of the process. I think that it will add a universal dimension to the struggle we have been fighting for years.

The light of hope born from Turin..

“Pinkroad”, the anti-harassment app designed by Giulia Sorriento, a 26-year-old Turin-based student, to protect women and make them feel more secure; It occupies the top of the agenda in Italy. It is a good thing, because; this problem is not only a problem in Italy, but at least as you know, it is a problem in all of Europe. “Pinkroad”, especially during danger and in places thought to be potential danger, at night; It is an application designed to connect young girls and women who have to cross the same road/route alone through the internet, to come together and thus have a safe journey.

This idea product, born in 2020, is currently under development and available in Italy.

The app developer is also its CEO, Sorriento;

“We’ve all been harassed at least once in our lives, it’s happened to me too. While talking about it with my family and friends, I realized how common it was and started thinking about possible solutions.” says.

The application has two main ideas;

On the one hand, women will perhaps save their own lives by getting virtual support when they feel most vulnerable; on the other hand, they will be able to meet live with other women who are in the same position as them and have to travel the same path, for example, and have a social environment.

In summary, this is the idea of a partial and qualified solution, if not holistic, where everything is based on women’s solidarity.

In fact, Giulia says parallel things about how much solution the application can bring;

”The truth is that there is no safe place, Ours is a concrete intervention but; does not solve the problem: We cannot think that the only support of women is women’s solidarity. We also need a rapid cultural development and change.”

Let’s talk about the content of the application, how to become a member and its details;

You can become a member of the application through the Italian Digital Identity System SPID user information (the Turkish equivalent in us).

By activating the geolocation on your smartphone, you can meet the users near you, and at the same time, the application provides more security during your journey together, because your location is tracked simultaneously via SPID with government support.

Through the in-app menu, you can easily communicate with other Pinkers (due to the application’s own language), get to know each other, and organize the routes and excursions you can create together.

When you need a car, you can travel and/or book a taxi or car-share to get home from the company by splitting the fare with other users through the app.

By being reviewed by other Pinkers, you get trust points in return, just like on e-commerce sites. This way, users know that you are the perfect travel companion, and the more trust points you earn, the more benefits you get.

You have a trusted family member; If you are conscious of the places you stayed in difficult situations before, when you head to about the same place, you will be able to see where you are near at any time of the day by entering the application with the state-supported live tracking system and you will be able to instantly contact in case of danger.————————————————————————————————–

It is obvious that the application, which was launched on July 1 at the Comala Cultural Association, has made a nationwide impact, because the vast majority of today’s internet users suffer from this problem, especially women.

Italy is standing, but why?

Specific to a file of the 5th Criminal Court of Rome in Italy;

“If the suspect is harassing the woman for less than 10 seconds, it is not harassment.”

and the establishment of judgment, so to speak, lifted the country to its feet.

66-year-old Antonio Avola, the senior servant/high school caretaker of the Roberto Rossellini Cine TV Institute, was acquitted by the 5th Criminal Division of the Rome Court of the charge of physically harassing a junior student at school.

The event dates back to April 2022. The prosecutor of the 5th Criminal Court of Rome had requested a prison sentence of 3 years and 6 months for the accused Avola, on the basis of sexual immunity and sexual assault within the scope of bodily offenses.

According to Avola’s defense at the trial stage; The contact, which lasted only a few seconds, was a non-malicious and accidental gesture, even “almost a joke”.

The judges who acquitted the accused stated that they gave a verdict of acquittal “because it does not constitute a real criminal charge”.

According to the judges, although the “touching” occurred, the action done in a short time between “5 and 10 seconds” was not enough for the act to constitute a “harassment” on its own!?

The victim girl, on the other hand, narrated the events in a different way;

According to that; While he was on the stairs, someone had his hand down his pants and when he started to lift him up, he noticed and scared him. When he turned his back, he encountered a 66-year-old person. The man himself He followed her by saying, “I love you, you loved it too, but you know I’m joking”. A friend of his had witnessed the event from beginning to end.

In the defendant’s statement; He admitted that he lifted the girl from the ground, but; She denied putting her hand inside her pants. He said that if there was contact with private places, “this was just by mistake, without any “lust” desire.

The judges’ decision is based on believing the girl’s story, but on the belief and assumption that the doorman had “no intention” to harass the young woman. According to the tribunal, it was “an lascivious clumsy maneuver”. The acquittal of Antonio Avola brought with it various reactions that questioned the interpretation of the truth and concrete evidence, and the perception of the boundary between jokes and harassment.

The anger caused by this event in Italy is not actually a first, but; For example, in similar cases, the judicial process was much healthier; When sports reporter Greta Beccaglia, who was assigned to the Empoli-Fiorentina match, was harassed live by a fan, history; It was November 2021.

The video of this action, which went viral immediately, was the signal flare of a real wave of anger in Italy and Europe. The journalist achieved an exemplary result for everyone by initiating the judicial process for the harassment case. The case against Andrea Serrani, who was responsible for the despicable act, resulted in a conviction.

The Florence Court, which made the decision; In a historical sentence, he admitted that this was “an open act of sexual violence without any exceptions” and rejected the idea that it was a simple “fans’ outrage” and was sentenced to 1 year and 6 months in prison, which was later suspended as per the Italian execution law and turned into a requirement to attend remedial courses for those convicted of sexual violence based on the obligation to pay compensation.

When I contacted my Italian lawyer colleagues about the issue, they explained that the crime of “sexual harassment” is not included in the laws in Italy, but that the committees have established a judgment on this issue within the framework of fairness.

Actually, perhaps the most interesting part of the job is this; The draft law no. 89, which was presented as the first signatory by the deputy Valeria Valente, who is a member of the Italian Republic Senate, could not be discussed in the senate. Because, this proposal text contains phrases that the delegations will not need to interpret in such events, in particular on the subject we are talking about, but; this bill could not be discussed in the senate and was left open to interpretation and eventually the situation came to this point..

If you are curious about the related bill submitted to the Senate and request, I can send it as a .pdf file and share it with its translation.

Regardless of village, city or country, it is of course essential that judges, who make judgments in a particular case, sometimes act by remembering that prosecutors in some countries are human beings before all of them, in addition to their professional knowledge, experience and equipment;

I should also add that, just as decisions in this way arouse indignation in the society, they regularly trigger and deepen the trauma that the victim has experienced many times over. In the same way, in proportion to the severity of the sentence given, the person/persons aggrieved are firmly attached to life, their belief in justice is strengthened, and in similar examples, it is a glimmer of hope for people and makes individuals feel much stronger.

The latest figures from the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) revealed that 70 percent of Italian women who were harassed between 2016-2021 did not report the incident.

Considering these statistics together, the gravity of the situation is more clearly revealed for Italy; Of course, it is not a good indicator for Italy that 7 out of 10 women cannot explain the harassment and abuse they suffered, as well as the fact that those who do not remain silent and show courage cannot take a just and urgent decision within the judicial process.

Finally, I would like to ask the Italian delegation that made this decision.

Who decides that 10 seconds isn’t a long time?

Who counts the seconds when being abused?