I-League clubs should take care of player interests: Sports law expert

BENGALURU: The cancellation of I-League owing to the coronavirus pandemic has dealt a big blow to club-player relations with contract obligations and payment of dues being the bones of contention.
The recent instance of Neroca FC not paying salaries to their players for the last couple of months has served to highlight the force majeure clause in the contract, which came into force the day the central government announced the national lockdown -- March 24.
However, force majeure figures differently in the contracts depending on when they end, says sports law expert Vidushpat Singhania of Krida Legal. "FIFA has issued Covid-19 guidelines which recommend that rather than unilaterally terminating the agreement, the clubs should attempt to work out an arrangement with the players. Only if such negotiations fail can they can terminate the agreement unilaterally. As for the players, they can seek legal redress from the player status committee," Singhania told TOI.
If the contract ends this year, clubs are well within their rights to terminate the agreement any time during the force majeure period and stop paying the players. However, if it is a multi-year agreement, it can only be suspended until the force majeure period. Pertinently, in both scenarios, clubs are expected to fulfil their role as good employers and respect humanitarian considerations.
"In case clubs terminate the agreement of a player which was valid till the end of the 2019-2020 season, due to AIFF's cancelling the remaining part of the I-League season and application of force majeure, it will likely satisfy the argument that the player agreement had become impossible to perform, under the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) jurisprudence and Indian jurisprudence. However, FIFA recommends that an amicable solution be worked out with the players."
According to Singhania, teams ought to have negotiated new terms of pay so that no player would be left without adequate income. "In such circumstances, players would be paid in full until the last day of I-League action. During lockdown, clubs could have paid the players an amount which is lower than their usual pay until their contract ends."