Free agents and the Bosman ruling

Almost any football fan worth his salt knows that the best deals are the ones which have the phrase ‘free transfer’ in them. More often than not, the free transfer is an economical way to snap talent that is either rejected or is coveted enough to not renew their old contract.

Also called the ‘Bosman’, the free transfer allows a player to join any team of his choice, post the club’s consent, without a transfer fee involved. It bypasses the need for any talks with the former club as the player is declared free of any obligation, or a ‘free agent’. In this article, we look at the history behind the free transfer.

Player Power: Jean-Marc Bosman

The Bosman Ruling

Jean-Marc Bosman, a player for RFC Liège in the Belgian First Division in Belgium, is the sole reason why the rules changed. Bosman wanted to shift clubs, after his contract expired in 1990. His new club of choice was a French team, Dunkerque. But the deal eventually fell through.

But as Bosman’s intentions were clear, the Belgian club sidelined him, also reducing his wages as he wasn’t a first team player. This move didn’t go down too well with the footballer, who then moved court at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg. His suit revolved around‘restraint of trade’, which restricted free movement of ‘workers’.

The eventual judgement, which would change the system around the globe, awarded Bosman and all other EU football players the right to a ‘free transfer’ at the legal end of their contractual responsibilities. But they were restricted by the provision that they could transfer from one club to another within one EU Association to a club within another EU Association.

However, the landmark judgement changed the landscape of football and other sports too. Another instance of a similar case can be found in the Seitz decision, post which Major League Baseball players ‘became free agents upon playing one year for their team without a contract’. This effectively nullified the MLS reserve clause.

The Reserve Clause

The reserve clause was a sticky part of one’s contract, which stemmed from an archaic ruling back in 1879. The reserve clause, a part of all player contracts, stated that, ‘upon the contracts expiration the rights to the player were to be retained by the team to which he had been signed.’ The gist of the law being that the contract had essentially ended, with neither the player required to represent the team, nor the team required to pay any fee. But at this juncture, the player could either negotiate a new contract or asked to be released or traded. This spelled out to the inability of the player to freely enter the market and scout options without the intervention of his former employers.

The Free Agent

Post the reserve clause era, free agency was initiated. A free agent is ‘any player who is eligible to sign with any club or franchise, i.e. not under contract to any specific team. The term is also used in reference to a player who is under contract at present, but who is allowed to solicit contract offers from other teams.’

Free agents are classified under two categories, the unrestricted free agent and the restricted free agent. Unrestricted free agents are essentially players without an actual team. Their contracts have either expired, or they have been released by their employers, which may or may not include additional terms. The term unrestricted refers to the way forward for these players, who are free to scout for new clubs and contracts.

The restricted free agent has a certain rules governing his future, but is a free agent in every other respect. He is free to solicit offers from other clubs, but before he can out pen to paper, his original club gets the chance to match the current offer, thereby retaining the talent. This pertains to sports and leagues usually outside the purview of FIFA, such as NFL and MLS.