More than thirty-five years ago, a single man stood up against an unfair system preventing European footballers from playing wherever they wanted in Europe. At the time, despite the laws, only three foreigners per club could sign. But RFC Liège refused in 1990 to allow its player Jean-Marc Bosman, at the end of his contract, to join Dunkirk and wanted to force him to sign a new contract with a salary reduced by 75%.
The Belgian midfielder tensed up and launched legal action against the football authorities. A fight that he was told was lost in advance and which he nevertheless won, on December 15, 1995, with the now famous Bosman ruling putting an end to the sporting exception in European laws. For thirty years, the transfer market has exploded along with players’ income. But Bosman, paradoxically, did not benefit from it.
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