The signing of Geoffrey Kondogbia by Atlético de Madrid was not only a reinforcement for the colchoneros, but has also inspired, over time, a relevant change in the RFEF regulation on transfers and transfers. The matter is not minor. From next season, those clubs that see a rival take away a footballer after payment of the termination clause in the last days of the market will not have an extra 30-day period to find a replacement.
This was an exception accepted by all of Spanish football for a long time. In fact, this is how Kondogbia arrived at Atlético de Madrid. The legal doubts that the movement then raised in specialized forums have now caused the RFEF to erase this prebend with a stroke of the pen as a result of regulatory reform. Atlético de Madrid made the signing of Kondogbia official on November 3, 2020, almost a month after the summer transfer market closed, which last year, due to the pandemic, lasted until October 5. That same day, Arsenal paid the 50 million euros that Thomas Partey had for rescission clause and left the mattresses composed and without a midfielder. The regulations left open (supposedly) the way for Atlético to enjoy 30 days to find a replacement, as it happened. Kondogbia signed after the pact between his home club, Valencia, and the colchoneros.
The exception, was only picked up by a circular
The Che did not, therefore, put any opposition to the signing. Where then does the problem lie? “A priori everything was legal, but the reality is that When Kondogbia ended up at Atlético, no regulations, neither those of the Federation, nor those of LaLiga, included the alleged exception that covered the signing of Kondogbia or that of many other players that they have been able to take advantage of this perk in recent seasons ”, lawyer Toni Roca, director of the Sports Law Institute, explains to AS.
“That exception is really only reflected in a couple of LaLiga circulars. The first was published in 2005 (circular number 12 of the 2005-2006 season) and later, in 2012, that same circular was again modified by LaLiga. In it it was said, in effect, that the clubs from which a footballer was snatched for the payment of the clause from August 15 onwards would have an extra 30 days to find a potential replacement, ”Roca continues.
The CSD rejected the exception
Despite the fact that between one circular and another seven years passed, in that period the exception to the LaLiga or RFEF regulations was not added. Neither did it after the last modification, that of 2012. “What's more, in 2017, LaLiga itself proposed to the CSD to include this precept in the LaLiga regulations, but the CSD rejected it. Furthermore, the power to register players does not belong to LaLiga, but to the RFEF, and in its regulations there was no mention of this exception ”, clarifies Roca.
“The only singularity to sign out of the market within the RFEF regulation it was eliminated after the Braithwaite case, so, with the text in hand, and even with the FIFA regulations, cases like Kondogbia were not considered “, Add. That, however, did not mean that Atlético de Madrid's movement was illegal, but rather that it was moving in a situation of limbo.
“It was a gray area that could have caused, for example, that some club had denounced Atlético de Madrid for improper alignment. It would have been a reaction that would have caused controversy, but being purists with the norm, it would not have been unreasonable. Those days I remember that a lot of that was debated in the legal intricacies of sports law. Surely as a result of that discussion the regulatory modification was born, to clear up doubts and not invite conflicts between clubs”, Says the director of the Sports Law Institute.
Now the modification of the rule, effectively, sentence that signings like that of Kondogbia will no longer be possible. The professional Spanish clubs will only be able to sign in during the working market periods with the exceptions of unemployed footballers and, in the case of women who are in gestation periods.