Bradford City overturned FIFA’s decision

The League One club has overturned a decision of the FIFA Players' Statutes Committee relating to player transfers in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne. The dispute dates back to November 18, 2001 when the Scottish side agreed to transfer Andrew Tod to to the English club for an initial fee of £100,000 with a further £25,000 to be paid to the player had played 25 competitive first team games, and an additional £25,000 to be paid once the player has played 50 games. The contract further provided that if the player played less than the stipulated 25 or 50 games the Scottish club would receive a pro rata payment at the rate of £1,000 per game. The commonly used pro rata clause stated "should the player be transferred by Bradford City before he has made 25 or 50 competitive first team appearances respectively, then Bradford City shall pay Dunfermline a pro-rata amount". The case revolved around whether the player had been transferred by the English club. On March 28, 2002, after he had played 19 games for Bradford City, the player was loaned to Heart of Midlothian in the Scottish Premier League. On June 27, 2002 the player returned to the English side for whom he played a further 5 games, taking the total number of games played for to 24. The player was then loaned to Dundee United, also competing in the Scottish Premier League, prior to his contract with the English side has been terminated by mutual consent on July 31, 2003. The Scottish club, supported by the Scottish FA, claimed that the player had played 24 matches in total, that the player was then "transferred" and that under the pro rata clause they were owed the sum of £24,000. The English club however contended that the word "transfer" could not apply to a temporary transfer or loan. The case came before FIFA on June 15, 2004. FIFA held that "the loan of a player by one club to another should be dealt with administratively like a transfer." However the CAS asserted that a loan agreement could not by definition be a permanent "transfer", that the word "transfer" meant a permanent transfer and that the pro rata clause had never been triggered.