FIFA Upholds Durel Avounou’s Claim in Foreign Player Protection Case
Nir Inbar Sports Law & Business represented professional football player Durel Avounou in successful proceedings before FIFA against Bnei Sakhnin FC of Israel.
The dispute concerned the treatment of a foreign player who became ill during the season and was temporarily unable to provide his sporting services. Instead of continuing to respect the player’s contractual rights and supporting him through the employment relationship, the club stopped paying his salaries, sought to remove him from its registration list and moved to replace him with another foreign player.
FIFA upheld the player’s claim in full.
The case is an important reminder that a player’s illness or temporary medical incapacity does not allow a club to abandon its contractual obligations. In international football, foreign players are often far from home, dependent on the club for salary, housing, medical coordination, registration status and basic professional support. When a medical problem arises, that dependency becomes even more significant.
The player’s claim before FIFA was based on fundamental principles of contractual stability under the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players. A club cannot unilaterally stop paying a player, seek to deregister him and treat the employment relationship as effectively terminated simply because the player has become ill or temporarily unavailable.
The matter also raised the issue of deregistration. Removing a player from the registration list, particularly in order to free a foreign-player slot and replace him, may seriously affect the player’s ability to work, compete and protect his career. In such circumstances, deregistration is not merely a technical administrative step. It can form part of a broader contractual breach.
For many foreign players, a football contract is not only a sporting opportunity. It is their income, their residence framework, their professional identity and, in many cases, their main protection in a country that is not their own. Players who move abroad often have limited local support and rely on the club to respect their contract, salary, medical treatment and registration status. When a club fails to do so, FIFA proceedings may provide an essential route to enforce the player’s rights.
Nir Inbar Sports Law & Business advises and represents players, coaches, agents and clubs in international football employment disputes, including unpaid salaries, unlawful termination, deregistration, medical-related employment disputes, player registration issues and proceedings before the FIFA Football Tribunal and CAS.
