Bosman ruling
| Bosman ruling | |
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| Submitted 6 October 1993 Decided 15 December 1995 |
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| Full case name | Union royale belge des sociétés de football association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman, Royal club liégeois SA v Jean-Marc Bosman and others and Union des associations européennes de football (UEFA) v Jean-Marc Bosman |
| Case number | C-415/93 |
| ECLI | ECLI:EU:C:1995:463 |
| Case Type | Reference for a preliminary ruling |
| Chamber | Full chamber |
| Nationality of parties | Belgium |
| Procedural history | Cour d'appel de Liège, 9e chambre civile, arrêt du 1 October 1993 (29.426/92) |
| Court composition | |
| Legislation affecting | |
| Interprets Article 48, TEEC | |
Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association ASBL v Jean-Marc Bosman (1995) C-415/93 (known as the Bosman ruling) is a 1995 European Court of Justice decision concerning freedom of movement for workers, freedom of association, and direct effect of article 39 (formerly 48) of the EC Treaty. The case was an important decision on the free movement of labour and had a profound effect on the transfers of football players within the European Union (EU).
The decision banned restrictions on foreign EU players within national leagues and allowed players in the EU to move to another club at the end of a contract without a transfer fee being paid.
The ruling was made in a consolidation of three separate legal cases, all involving Belgian player Jean-Marc Bosman:
Jean-Marc Bosman was a player for RFC Liège in the Belgian First Division in Belgium whose contract had expired in 1990. He wanted to change teams and move to Dunkerque, a French team. However, Dunkerque refused to meet his Belgian club's transfer fee demand, so Liège refused to let him go.
In the meantime, Bosman's wages were reduced as he was no longer a first-team player. He took his case to the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg and sued for restraint of trade citing FIFA's rules regarding football, specifically Article 17.
On 15 December 1995 the court ruled that the system, as it was constituted, placed a restriction on the free movement of workers and was prohibited by Article 39(1) of the EC Treaty (now Article 45 (1) of the Treaty on the functioning of the European Union). Bosman and all other EU football players were given the right to a free transfer at the end of their contracts, with the provision that they were transferring from a club within one EU Association to a club within another EU Association.
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