From Bos to Mat

After Bosman, Kolpak and Webster, comes the Matuzalem case. For reasons of accuracy, I quote from the euFootball.biz website: "The [Matuzalem] decision concludes that the Brazilian football player had terminated his contract with the Ukrainian club FC Shakhtar Donetsk “unilaterally, prematurely and without just cause” and condemned him to pay a compensation to his former club of EUR 11.86 million, plus interest of 5% per year starting on 5 July 2007 until the effective date of payment. Real Zaragoza SAD, the Spanish club with whom Matuzalem had subsequently signed a new contract, was declared “jointly and severally liable for the payment” of the afore-cited amount. In an unprecedented decision, the Court underlined that “the termination of a contract without just cause, even if it occurs outside the so-called Protect Period, remains a violation of contractual obligations”, adding that “Article 17 of the FIFA Players’ Status Regulations does not give, neither to a club nor a player, a free pass to unilaterally breach an existing agreement”. Does this mean that the pendulum of power has swung back in favour of clubs, power having clearly been in the hands of players since the 1995 Bosman Ruling? Is the Matuzalem Ruling as significant as Bosman, or simply a further iteration in our interpretation of Europe's freedom of movement laws? Should we expect the ramifications of Matuzalem to be as serious as Bosman? In which case, will they favour clubs or players? And what might be the implications, if any, for this summer's impending football player transfer market? Otherwise, how might the Matuzalem Ruling play out across other sports?