During an international competition (Football World Cup, European Basketball Championship, Rugby World Cup, etc.), athletes are no longer under the subordination of their respective club. So who pays these players when they wear their country's colors at national selections? [update]
Provision of athletes for national selections
The provision of international players is an essential principle of high-level sport.
The Sports Code specifies, in its article R.132-10, that the selection and management of French teams is the responsibility of the federations.
No other legislative provision regulates the provision of athletes. Only the sports world has implemented specific provisions in its regulations.
Football
For football, clubs have the obligation to make their players available for national selections when they are selected. Indeed according to Annex 1 of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players of FIFA, "a club which has registered a player must make this player available to the association of the country for which the player is qualified, on the basis of his nationality, if he is summoned by the association in question. Any agreement to the contrary between a player and a club is prohibited.".
Also according to FIFA regulations, the provision of players for the matches scheduled on the dates of the international calendar is mandatory.
Volley ball
For volleyball, this principle is set out in article 2.2.3 of the regulations of the FIVB International Federation, which provides that clubs are obliged to make their players available to national teams for each competition organized by the FIVB.
The statute of the professional player of the LNV takes up this point by specifying that "any French player is required to respond to the selections for the formation of national teams subject to compliance with the laws in force". This is also generally included in the employment contracts of the players. Likewise, the FFVB / LNV convention indicates to us in its article 4 that" lPlayers are required to respond to invitations from the FFVB, and sports groups must facilitate their participation ».
The National Collective Sport Agreement (CCNS)
The National Collective Sports Agreement (article 12.12) clarified that, "in principle, it [The participation in the French team of a selected professional athlete] has no impact on the working relationship which unites the interested parties to the sports group which employs them. The athlete, and / or the trainer, is then deemed to fulfill with the federation a mission entrusted by his employer in respect of his salaried activities, and for which he retains all of his employee rights.."
Legal qualification of sums paid to athletes
We know that the athlete's participation in the national team has no impact on the working relationship. Does this therefore mean that the athlete continues to be paid by his club during the period of provision?
Article L.222-3 of the Sports Code and the CCNS specifies that the athlete remains an employee of his club for the duration of his provision.
It is therefore the clubs that pay the players. According to Annex 1 of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, clubs are not even entitled to any financial compensation from federations.
However, during the South African Football World Cup, FIFA paid them a financial contribution of approximately 1300 euros per player and per day of provision. This compensation, financed by the television and marketing rights of the Mondial, was put in place following "the'Oulmers case", this players of Moroccan origin seriously injured in the selection and whose club threatened FIFA with legal action to be compensated for the damage.
In addition, the players made available to the federation are granted by the latter a remuneration corresponding to the exploitation of the collective image of the National Team. Its amount depends on the partnerships signed by the federations with the sponsors.
The current jurisprudence of the Court of Cassation specifies, in a judgment of January 22, 2009, that the bonuses paid to the players within the framework of the selections do not make the federation their employer. The sums paid are therefore not salaries. The sums paid in compensation for commercial and sponsorship actions relate to participation in a service organized by the federation, without however being part of a relationship of subordination.
Case law
The Court thus holds that in application of article 12.12 of the CCNS, the "professional football player who participates in the France team must be regarded as continuing the salaried activity which he usually exercises for the sports group which employs him, and this even though no employment contract would unite him with the French football federation and that he would not be in a position of subordination to the latter".
The judge concluded that "the sums received from this federation on the occasion of such participation in the France team constitute salaries and wages".
This judgment may be the subject of a cassation appeal before the Council of State.
To be continued ...
En conclusion
During the national selection period, players receive:
their salary from their respective clubs
bonuses in return for the exploitation of their image by the federations
