Conséquences de l'arrêt Bosman sur le financement des clubs de football européens

Abstract

The professional football industry has radically changed during the past 20 years; money has taken the leadership over the sport itself. This thesis first puts an emphasis on the Bosman ruling, which entered into force in 1995, which is approached through comparative graphs and analysis. Clubs have definitely been forced to embrace new business models, which consist of generating as much income as possible to consolidate their power. The clubs that cannot follow the same path has entailed growing inequalities that have led to the birth of unfair competition. In the second part of the paper, we will give an insight on a problematic phenomenon that originates from the football liberalization that is known as third party ownership (TPO). The ban of the practice by the FIFA has raised a tremendous concern among football stakeholders. On the one hand, there are fervent advocates who think that the practice violates fundamental player’s (human) rights. On the other hand, the opponents that considers TPO as a key alternative funding opportunity to enhance competitiveness within clubs. Had the TPO to be forbidden? Are there other financing alternatives that allow third parties to bypass this restriction? In order to answer these two questions objectively: we have taken into account testimonies from the chief executive officer of the Belgian professional football league and also from a Spanish lawyer specialized in sports. We used relevant information gathered in trustworthy reviews as well.