EC Law and Professional Football

included a massive reduction (almost 75 per cent) of total salary which would have placed him on the minimum salary permitted by the URBSFA, the Belgian football governing body.Bosman, however, eventually attracted attention from the French club Dunkerque, and a transfer fee was agreed between Libge and Dunkerque.Unfortunately, the proposed transfer eventually collapsed due to the failure of a clearance certificate from the URBSFA to arrive at the French Football Federation in time and doubts as to Dunkerque's ability to pay the transfer fee.Subsequently, Bosman was only able to obtain employment with a Belgian Third Division club amid suspicion, following his decision to mount a challenge to the lawfulness in EC law of football transfer fees for out of contract player?and restrictions on the number of foreign players which can be selected in a team, that he was 'boycotted by all European clubs who could have taken him in.'*Bosman's case underwent a protracted journey through the Belgian legal system, eventually reaching the Appeal Court in Libge where he sought financial compensation from Libge, URBSFA and UEFA, together with a declaration that URBSFA and UEFA rules on transfer of players and participation of foreign players were inapplicable to him.The Appeal Court opted to exercise its power under Article 177 of the EC Treaty to refer the matter to the European Court for a preliminary ruling.The terms of its reference were as follows:Are Articles 48, 85 and 86 of the [EC Treaty] to be interpreted as: (i) prohibiting a football club from requiring and receiving payment of a sum of money upon the engagement of one of its players who has come to the end of his contract by a new employing club;(ii) prohibiting the national and international sporting associations or federations from including in their respective regulations provisions restricting access of foreign players from the European Community to the competitions which they ~r g a n i z e ?~ What follows is a brief account of the European Court's response and an assessment of its implications for the professional football industry in the UK, especially clubs' accounting policies in respect of treatment of players as assets, and possible new legal challenges to the domestic transfer fee system

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