Rights and Obligations of Parties in Professional Football Player Contracts

In the Turkish Civil Code and Code of Obligations, there are certain types of contracts specifically included in the Commercial Code. Player contracts, which are a special type of contracts, are a special form of service contracts regulated in the Turkish Code of Obligations. Indeed, the contracts that athletes make with their clubs are generally called athlete contracts.

In a broader expression, a contract can be defined as a consensual agreement made between professional football players and clubs, imposing mutual responsibilities on the parties.

Definition of Professional Football Player

According to FIFA Regulations, a professional football player is defined as a person who is bound to a club by a written contract and is paid more than the expenses incurred for football activities. According to the TFF Professional Footballers' Status and Transfer Regulations, it is defined as a footballer who has a written contract with a club and is paid more than the expenses made within the scope of football activities.

The concept of professional footballer is regulated in Article 3 of PFSTT. Accordingly, it is stated as a footballer who has made a written contract with a club and is paid more than the expenses made within the scope of football activities.

The regulations made belong to PFSTT before the adoption of Law No. 7405 on Sports Clubs and Sports Federations. The concept of professional is mentioned in Article 23 of SKSF No. 7405. Accordingly, in sports branches that are accepted as professional by international organizations to which the sports federation is a member and where professional activity is permitted according to legislation, professional sports activities can be carried out in a contractual relationship with a sports club or sports joint stock company.

Concept of Amateur Footballer

In addition, an explanation regarding "footballers" for amateur athletes is also provided in Article 4 of PFSTT. According to this article, all footballers outside the definition specified in Article 3 are accepted as amateur footballers, and it is emphasized that covering transportation, accommodation, equipment, insurance, nutrition and training expenses related to a competition will not violate the amateur status of the footballer.

In addition, it regulates that professional teams cannot field amateur footballers in official league and cup competitions.

Service Contract Status

Professional football player contracts are also in the status of service contracts regulated in TCC Article 393 et seq. In this context, it should be emphasized that a professional athlete contract is not legally exactly an employee-employer contract.

Although the footballer's employer is the club or the club's contracted employee is the footballer, they are not considered within the scope of the labor law. On the other hand, although labor courts occasionally have the authority to examine professional football player contracts in some disputes, this situation does not change the nature of professional football player contracts.

Because, in Article 4 of Labor Law No. 4857, it is specifically stated that athlete contracts will not be evaluated within the labor law and therefore cannot be subject to labor law, and therefore athletes - footballers in our subject - are not considered workers.

Elements of the Contract

In light of this information, when we examine the elements of professional football player contracts, they consist of 3 main elements as in service contracts:

Performance of work
Wage
Dependency

In some definitions, a 4th element called "continuity" is added to these 3 elements.

Right to Wage

The element that constitutes the most important obligation of the club employing professional footballers is wage. Wage is the most basic right of a professional footballer. Article 313 of the Code of Obligations, which regulates the service contract, states that the most important debt of the employer is to pay wages, and Article 323 also regulates that the employer is obliged to pay the wage determined in the concluded contract.

According to PFSTT Article 2, wage is defined as money and values that can be measured with money that the professional footballer is entitled to in return for the performances in the contract.

Types of Wages

There are more than one type of wage that the footballer is entitled to:

Monthly wage
Guaranteed wage
Signing bonus
Match fee
Bonuses

How these wages will be paid will be realized in accordance with the free will of the parties. However, the most common wage payment system in practice is match fee, guaranteed wage, and bonus earned by fulfilling the conditions in the contract. In practice, these bonuses are also called bonuses.

Monthly wage is defined as the wage that must be specified in the contract according to Article 21 of the Regulation and is paid to the footballer, provided that it is not less than the monthly minimum wage. Match fee refers to the wage paid to the footballer calculated over the matches the footballer played.

The parties may include explanations in the contract regarding the calculation of the match fee. It is possible to determine how the wage will be paid proportionally according to whether the footballer is included in the match squad, enters the starting eleven, or joins the game later.

Rights of the Club and Obligations of the Footballer

On the other hand, the rights of the club arising from the contract:

Right to impose disciplinary penalties
Right to demand performance of work from the athlete
Right to intervene in the athlete's private life

In other words, the athlete's obligations towards the club require paying attention to their private life - considering football matches, brand rights, and the club's reputation, and dealing with football within the framework of the contract and performing their work.

Termination of the Contract

As a rule, professional football player contracts are terminated by the agreement of the parties or by the termination by one of the parties for just cause. In case of violation of obligations by one or both of the parties within the scope of the contract, the other party may avoid fulfilling its own performance by raising the defense of non-payment.

Accordingly, if the parties signing the professional football player contract, in other words, the parties reaching an agreement within the scope of this contract, do not act in accordance with their debts:

Right to terminate the contract
Right to claim compensation
Right to request sports penalties to be imposed by the Federation

They have rights such as.

Conclusion

Professional football player contracts, while being a special type of service contracts, are not evaluated within the scope of labor law. Wage is the most basic right of the footballer, and the mutual rights and obligations of the parties must be clearly regulated in the contract. In case of breach of contract, the parties have the rights to claim termination, compensation, and sports penalties.