Former France and Real Madrid star Lassana Diarra started the legal proceedings against FIFA and the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) again in an attempt to win a fee after a court had ruled in his favor last year against the international administrative organ.
Diarra was locked up in a legal battle of ten years with FIFA after being ordered to pay £ 8.8 million (10.5 million euros) for his breach of contract on the former Lokomotiv Moscow side in 2014.
FIFA has also suspended Diarra for 15 months for the termination of his own contract with the Russian club, which came from a dispute about Lokomotiv who tried to reduce his salary based on its versions.
A switch to the Belgian side Charleroi was then endangered, with Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on the way with the first ban of FIFA.
Diarra took new legal steps in 2015 and claimed that he was not prevented from doing his work after FIFA refused to give him the necessary international transfer certificate to register him with the Belgian FA for the Charleroi relocation to continue.
Because the deal went to the south, Diarra argued that this action was contrary to European labor laws, and in October 2024 the European Court of Justice (CJEU) ruled that some of the rules of the FIFA for the transfer of players had violated the European Union legislation.
According to BBC Sport, Diarra then hoped that FIFA and RBFA would reach him to make a financial decrease and to give a 'friendly arrangement', but without contacting, the former midfielder is now looking for £ 56 million through the courts.
“I am forced to fight this legal battle since August 2014,” Diarra said in a statement. “That is more than 11 years.
“I do this for myself but I also did it for all emerging, less well-known players who do not have the financial and psychological means to challenge FIFA for real judges.”
Diarra has also argued that the changes that FIFA has made are not yet in accordance with the requirements required as a result of the CJEU ruling.
“Since the ECJ published its statement in the Diarra case in October 2024, FIFA has worked with its stakeholders to change its regulations after the supervision of ECJ,” A FIFA statement seemed.
“FIFA does not comment on current legal affairs.”
Diarra is supported in his struggle by trade unions from professional football players FIFPRO, FIFPRO Europe and the UNFP of France, as well as the Dutch Foundation Justice for Players (JFP), who started their own legal steps against FIFA earlier this month.
JFP has launched a Class Action law case that was looking for billions of compensation for players who played in the United Kingdom or the European Union and possibly missed the profit due to the current transfer instructions.
The group's action is also aimed at football clubs in France, Germany, Belgium, Denmark and the Netherlands.
“We are firmly next to Mr Diarra,” JFP said on Monday and added that the temporary changes to FIFA to the transfer rules … Still not fully comply with the EU Act. “