The international sports court CAS has confirmed the transfer ban imposed by FIFA against 1. FC Köln – how it came about, what is still allowed and how it compares with other rulings.
What did the CAS decide?
The CAS essentially confirmed the decision of a FIFA legal chamber, which had punished 1. FC Köln with a ban on registering players for two transfer periods. The FC appealed the penalty to the CAS – unsuccessfully. The penalty confirmed on Thursday (December 21, 2023) now comes into force with immediate effect. The CAS is the final authority, meaning legal remedies in the sports courts are no longer possible.
The penalty is a setback for 1. FC Köln. In winter he cannot strengthen the squad for the further relegation battle of the current season, in summer he cannot strengthen his team for the new season in the Bundesliga or in the 2nd Bundesliga.
What else can 1. FC Köln do when designing its squad?
What is allowed:
- To bring back players whose contracts with the other club are expiring. FC has currently awarded Jonas Urbig, Tim Lemperle (both SpVgg Greuther Fürth), Nikola Soldo (1. FC Kaiserslautern), Maximilian Schmid (Roda Kerkrade) and Marvin Obuz (Rot-Weiss Essen) until summer 2024.
- To extend contracts with players who are currently in the squad.
- To extend the loan contracts with players on loan or to sign these players permanently.
- To sign players up to the age of 15 for the youth teams.
- To use youth players and amateur players with the professionals. The DFL lowered the minimum age from 17 to 16 in 2020. Restriction according to the DFL: A maximum of three players who are not licensed players are allowed to be on the pitch at the same time. There are no restrictions on the substitute bench.
- To sign and register players for the team in the women’s Bundesliga. Women are not affected by the ban.
What is forbidden:
- In general, to register new players for the men’s team in the Bundesliga. The registration of committed players is a prerequisite for eligibility to play.
- Bringing back loaned players from ongoing loan contracts.
- Sign out-of-contract players before December 31, 2023 and thus before the start of the transfer window on January 1, 2024.
- To sign out-of-contract players after the 2024 summer window and thus before the start of the transfer window on January 1, 2025. These two possible loopholes are closed by FIFA regulations.
- To sign youth players who could be part of the teams for players aged 15 and over.
FIFA recently clarified in a circular to the associations again the procedure for registration bans. According to information from Sportschau, the DFB was informed of the penalty by FIFA on the day the CAS verdict was announced and was called upon to enforce it against 1. FC Köln. Cologne will be allowed to become active again in the winter transfer window in January 2025.
The transfer of Jaka Cuber Potocnik to Cologne triggered the suspension.
Why was 1. FC Köln punished?
The youth player Jaka Cuber Potocnik had his mother terminate his contract with Olimpija Ljubljana in Slovenia and sign with 1. FC Köln. The family argued that there were “valid reasons” for the unilateral termination of the contract, including supposedly unfulfilled promises such as training sessions with the first team. Ljubljana denied this and contacted FIFA. The question of whether a player has previously resigned for a “good reason” or not in such a transfer process is crucial.
Because then you have to according to FIFA rules the new club – in this case 1. FC Köln – prove that it had nothing to do with the unilateral termination. In the opinion of the FIFA Chamber and also in the opinion of the CAS, the FC failed to refute the accusation of incitement to breach of contract. What spoke against FC:
- The court found that 1. FC Köln had contacted the player’s agent several times.
- According to FIFA, the timing suggested that Cologne had an influence. The termination took place on January 30, 2022, and the contract was signed in Cologne on January 31, 2022 – the last day of the transfer window.
- In addition was read in FIFA’s rulingthat the player’s mother admitted that the disputed unfulfilled promises had not been anchored in the contract with Ljubljana.
FIFA and CAS thus established an unlawful breach of contract by the player and the lack of proof of 1. FC Köln’s innocence. In this case, the penalty enshrined in the rules of a ban on registering players for two transfer windows comes into force. Neither the amount of the penalty nor the question of who has the burden of proof in such a case are new. Both have been in the FIFA rules for years.
Are big clubs treated more tamely in comparison?
Some Cologne fans object: “But FC Barcelona and Manchester City can get away with anything!” This mostly refers to financial issues in Financial Fair Play, which are a matter for UEFA and not FIFA. The FIFA Chamber has actually handed out similar penalties against big clubs. Chelsea was also sentenced to a two-window transfer ban in 2019; the club is said to have illegally approached 29 underage players for transfers. The cases are usually hardly comparable. However, CAS later halved Chelsea’s ban to a transfer window. The same process occurred at Real Madrid with similar allegations in 2016.
Olympique Marseille was sentenced by FIFA to a two-window registration ban in 2022 because of the breach of contract of a player from Watford – here the CAS lifted the transfer ban because he had one here “good reason” to terminate the contract as proven.
However, such a penalty was enforced against FC Nantes in 2012. An objection by the club to the CAS and then also to the ordinary Swiss courts only caused a delay in enforcement. “The sentence hung over our heads for two years and, to be honest, we were convinced for a long time that it would not be lifted. So we organized ourselves accordingly.”said Nantes’ managing director Franck Kita in spring 2014. Observers from Nantes are even of the opinion that the registration ban would have had a healing effect. The club was forced to train players from its own academy and integrate them into the professional team.
Can FC still prepare for the punishment like Nantes?
This chance no longer exists, the punishment is carried out immediately. All planning for the squad to take the registration ban into account had to take place in the summer. Cologne’s sports director Christian Keller announced after delivery of the CAS ruling: “We have always said that we have always taken the transfer ban scenario into account and will plan our squad accordingly until the end of the now fixed ban.” Not everyone around the club sees this as a success; Keller is now under immense pressure in Cologne, as is the entire management team on the board. Keller also pointed out on Friday that many contracts had been extended beyond the summer of 2024.
“We firmly believe that this squad is capable of ultimately being in one of the places that will enable participation in the Bundesliga next season.”said Keller.
Christian Keller, Managing Director of 1. FC Cologne
How could all this have been prevented?
An out-of-court settlement would have been possible. The FC made attempts to reach an agreement with Ljubljana. An agreement was reached in the meantime, but ultimately did not come about, said managing director Philipp Türoff on Friday. Keller said that “a multiple” of what was in the room that Ljubljana was awarded by the CAS. The CAS decided that Ljubljana was entitled to 60,000 euros; the club had demanded more than 2.5 million euros. In the end it became confrontational: the Cologne-based company accused the opposing party of fraud and filed a criminal complaint, while Ljubljana in return accused the Cologne-based company of attempted bribery.
Overall, Cologne seemed convinced of its legal position. “We expected it to be different”said Türoff. “We have provided evidence, we are convinced that the contract has been terminated legally.”
Philipp Türoff, managing director of 1. FC Köln.
Who is to blame for the transfer ban?
The Cologne team never presented anyone who was overall responsible for the transfer, which FIFA and CAS believed was illegal. Alexander Wehrle (now VfB Stuttgart) and Philipp Türoff, who still works at 1. FC Köln today, were under contract as managing directors. Questions about the possible responsibility of the two or the board, the sporting advisor Jörg Jakobs, a legal department of the club or the management of the youth performance center at the time were not examined in detail, at least publicly.
Christian Keller said that, from his perspective, that was the assessment of those in charge at the time “there is no objection”. From his point of view, everything speaks in favor of a lawful dismissal of the player in Ljubljana. FIFA and CAS saw it differently.