Malta sports transfer rules abide by EU laws, Brussels says

The European Commission does not find anything wrong with rules governing the transfer of waterpolo players and the same applies to other sports as long as the transfers are between one Maltese club and another.

EU Employment Commissioner Vladimir Spidla made the declaration in reply to a question by a Welsh MEP on the rules of the Malta Aquatic Sports Association (MASA).

Eluned Morgan, from the British Labour Party, asked the Commission to give its opinion on whether the MASA regulations are compatible with EU laws particularly in relation to the free movement of workers.

Ms Morgan said the MASA rules stipulate that a Maltese team wanting to acquire the services of a player whose contract with another Maltese team has expired must still pay a transfer fee to the latter. Such a transfer fee is particularly high by Maltese standards, the MEP insisted.

Mr Spidla said that although the EU laws on free movement regulate the transfer of players, this is only applicable to transfers between clubs in different member states.

Responding directly on the Maltese situation, Mr Spidla said the case raised by the British MEP involves a purely internal situation where a Maltese player in a club in Malta wishes to move to another club in Malta. "Community law would, therefore, not apply in this case," he pointed out.

On the other hand, the Commission maintains that transfers of players between clubs in different member states fall under EU law.

Mr Spidla said rules that are likely to restrict the freedom of movement of players who wish to pursue their activity in another member state by preventing or deterring them from leaving the clubs to which they belong, even after the expiry of their contracts of employment with those clubs, may violate Community law, in particular rules on the free movement of workers.

The commissioner noted that all players who consider they have been discriminated against can take legal action in accordance with national law and practice.