We assisted the Moroccan international footballer Houssine Kharja, in his cases against the club Al Arabi SC, of Qatar, first before the FIFA DRC and then before the TAS/CAS.
The player had been sacked by the Qatari club for a fight on the pitch with a player from the opposing team, resulting in his disqualification. We worked to prove that the dismissal was disproportionate, because the player had been the victim of an opposing attack and had simply defended himself. Moreover, the club’s conduct had been inconsistent with the dismissal allegation: indeed, the club itself had supported the player in proving his innocence on appeal and had maintained the contractual relationship even after the alleged termination.
We argued, therefore, that the club’s dismissal of the player had no legal connection with what had happened on the pitch: for months the club had been in arrears with payments to the player and therefore the party that had suffered unjustified conduct was our client.
FIFA DRC in the first instance and TAS/CAS in the second instance recognised the unlawful conduct of the Qatari club and the player’s consequent right to compensation for all damages suffered.
Moreover, unlike the FIFA DRC, the TAS/CAS also considered that a penalty clause included in the employment contract was valid, and this was useful in determining the final amount of damages suffered. Although the amounts of damages predetermined by the clause were not the same in the case of termination by the player as in the case of termination by the club, this inequality was not sufficient to determine the invalidity of the clause itself and its inapplicability.
