Lucas Ribeiro Costa has terminated his contract with Mamelodi Sundowns as he aims to become the first footballer to benefit from Lassana Diarra’s legal victory against Fifa.
Brazilian forward Ribeiro, whose goal against Borussia Dortmund in June was voted best of the Fifa Club World Cup, has also referred his case to world football’s governing body.
The 26-year-old is being represented by Belgian lawyer Jean-Louis Dupont, who won the landmark 1995 case involving Jean-Marc Bosman and is also representing Diarra.
The former France midfielder has had a long-running legal battle with Fifa and in October the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) found that some of Fifa’s transfer rules break European Union laws.
After Diarra terminated his contract with Lokomotiv Moscow in 2014, Fifa then refused to provide him with an international transfer certificate (ITC) for a proposed move to Belgian club Charleroi in 2015.
The CJEU found Fifa demonstrated that its rules “impede the free movement of professional footballers wishing to develop their activity by going to work for a new club”.
Fifa has since amended its transfer regulations while Diarra this week restarted legal proceedings seeking £56m in compensation.
Lawyer Dupont says Qatar SC made Mamelodi Sundowns an offer for Ribeiro that was “well above the player’s valuation” and that he wished to join the Qatari top-flight club.
It claims that the South African champions “attempted to drive up the price, again and again, in an unreasonable manner, without any regard for the player’s personal interests, which made the deal impossible”.
It adds that Ribeiro terminated his contract, which was due to expire in 2028, on 1 August and that the former Charleroi and Beveren player has “no other choice” than to defend his interests in a Fifa tribunal.
“Following the Diarra ruling by the CJEU, there is no doubt that the dispute between me and my former club will not prevent me from continuing my career with peace of mind”, said Ribeiro.
“Indeed, following its own regulations (as amended in light of the Diarra judgement), Fifa will see to it that the international transfer certificate be immediately delivered upon request by my future employer”.
The statement says Ribeiro is willing to take the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport or a state court, and that he now has interest from various clubs including some in Europe.
“I will now consider what is best for the future of my career in order to make the right choice”, Ribeiro added.
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Source: BBC
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