Diarra ruling could reshape transfer system

Fifa's regulations state that if a player breaches his contract, which is then terminated by the club, his new team are jointly liable with the player to pay compensation to his old one - which happened when Charleroi attempted to sign Diarra after his contract was ended by the Russian club in 2014.

PARIS Football's player transfer system will be in the spotlight and could even be on the brink of collapse on Oct 4, when the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) announces its ruling on former France player Lassana Diarra's case against Fifa.

The international transfer system, which processes hundreds of millions of dollars each year in player sales and has existed in its current form since 2001, is overseen by world football's ruling body.

Diarra challenged it, however, when he successfully claimed in a Belgian court in 2017 that Fifa's transfer rules had blocked him from moving to a new club after his contract was terminated by Lokomotiv Moscow.

Fifa refused to issue an international transfer certificate, effectively preventing the Belgian club from registering Diarra with the Belgian federation.