BY
OGECHUKWU MIRIAM AKINSULORE &
ADEDOYIN OLUSEGUN AKINSULORE
Abstract
Football contracts, when unmonitored, are often between parties of unequal status and capacity. The financial and organizational strength of clubs are often leveraged to the advantage of the football clubs while footballers only have their skills set as a bargaining chip –a skill that is open to competition from other football players seeking for a contract of employment for the limited space in the club. The tension that emanates between the business interest of a club and the skill-based interest of a player can often be centrifugal. The interest of the former is naturally profit oriented based on the commodification of footballer’s skills. The latter, on the other hand, is in pursuit of sporting glory and the fulfilment of a passion and less of the commercial intendment of profiteering. To avoid unconscionable contractual terms in professional football contract, FIFA provides a template for the minimum standards applicable to this type of contract. This minimum standard encompasses dual obligatory requirements expected to be fulfilled by the clubs and the professional footballer respectively. The methodology adopted in this work is largely doctrinal wherein analysis of terms contained in contracts of professional footballers in Nigeria, England and Estonia is undertaken. Information from in-depth interviews conducted is also analyzed. It finds that adherence to the FIFA’s minimum standard appears to be the norm in European contracts as against that of Nigeria. It also finds that the contractual loopholes in the Nigerian contract signed by professional football players allow for manipulation by the club on performance of their obligation to the footballer. It recommends, among others, a need for a more rigorous assessment by the Nigerian Football Federation of football contracts in its repository to avoid unfavorable contracts to players that are inconsistent with the FIFA’s minimum standards.