FIFA has made a decision regarding the case of suspected violation of the rule on Third Party Influence (TPI, Article 18 bis of the Regulations on the Status and Transfers of Players, RSTP in English) in relation to the transfer of Mauro Icardi from Inter to Paris Saint Germain, which took place in early September 2019.
Under the magnifying glass of the governing body of world football, the discussed clauses that – according to press rumors – would have prevented the French club from selling the Argentine striker to other Italian clubs, if not through the payment of further 15 million (in addition to the amount already agreed for the sale) to Inter.
A condition prohibited by article 18bis of the RTSP, as reiterated by the recent decisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Commission and as also highlighted by the case involving the Juventus and the transfer of the defender Mehdi Benatia all’Al Duhail.
The same mechanism led the FIFA Disciplinary Commission to sanction the Paris Saint Germain. The rationale is contained in the official document of the decision taken on January 14th, with reasons published on March 9 last.
The document reconstructs the transfer of Icardi to PSG – first on loan and then outright – with reference to a specific clause: “In addition to the transfer fee referred to in clause 6, Inter will be entitled to an additional amount conditional upon the occurrence of the next event exclusively in the period from 1 July 2020 to the last day of the Italian summer transfer window of the sporting season 2020/2021».
«In the case of – it is read -, during this period, Paris Saint-Germain transfers the player exclusively to an Italian club (either on a temporary or permanent basis and regardless of the economic value of the transfer), Paris Saint-Germain will pay Inter […] an additional amount equal to € 15,000,000.00 (fifteen million euros) […]. For the avoidance of doubt, the above amount is not payable as a result of:
- any transfer of the player after the above period;
- a transfer of the player to a third non-Italian club within the above period».
A clause of this type implies one of the conditions of “influence” on a club’s transfer policies. In addition, the PSG also violated the rule that requires reporting of TPI agreements at the time the contract is submitted to the TMS. For this reason the French company was sanctioned with a fine from 10 thousand Swiss francs (at the exchange rate, 9,120 euros).
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