Unlimited professional ban for football players as a sanction for non-payment of damages violates substantive public policy

Facts

The case concerns the Brazilian football player Francelino da Silva Matuzalem, who had terminated his employment contract with the Ukrainian football club FC Shakhtar Donetsk prematurely and without just cause. As a result, he was ordered by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to pay damages of over 11 million euros to the Ukrainian club. When Matuzalem failed to make the payment, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee initiated proceedings against him and threatened to ban him from any football-related activity if he failed to pay, without the need for a further decision by the Disciplinary Committee. Both Matuzalem and his former club Real Saragossa SAD appealed this decision to the CAS, which dismissed the appeals. Matuzalem then filed a civil law appeal with the Federal Supreme Court, alleging a violation of substantive public policy.

Considerations

The Federal Supreme Court states that public policy has both substantive and procedural content. A claim is only in violation of substantive public policy if it disregards fundamental legal principles and is therefore incompatible with the essential, widely recognized value system. The Federal Supreme Court considers the threat of an unlimited professional ban for Matuzalem, based on Art. 64 of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, to be an obvious and serious infringement of his personal rights, disregarding the limits of contractual obligations enshrined in Art. 27(2) of the…