Dutch players' union backs lawsuit challenging FIFA transfer rules

The Dutch professional players' union pledged its support on Thursday for the Justice for Players Foundation's class action lawsuit targeting the Dutch football federation, global soccer body FIFA and several European FAs over transfer regulations.

VVCS, which represents professional footballers in the Netherlands, is following in the footsteps of the French players’ union UNFP, which threw its weight behind a mushrooming legal challenge to FIFA's transfer system last month.

The lawsuit stems from a European court ruling that found some FIFA transfer rules violate EU law and aims to align FIFA rules with European principles of free movement.

JfP is a Dutch-led initiative founded to advocate for the interests of professional footballers across Europe.

"VVCS has observed that an increasing number of footballers are contacting the organisation because they are caught up in transfer disputes," it said in a statement.

"In some cases, this leads to frustration, but VVCS also observes numerous situations involving questionable restrictions. Across Europe, thousands of players are directly disadvantaged by the current FIFA transfer rules," it added.

"VVCS has therefore decided to support the collective action of Justice for Players (JfP) and their representation of professional footballers' interests in this initiative." 

The case centres on former Chelsea, Arsenal and Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra, who was slapped with a 10 million euros ($11.66 million) fine by FIFA for leaving Russian club Lokomotiv Moscow one year into a four-year contract.

Last October, the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that some FIFA transfer regulations breach European Union laws and free movement principles in the Diarra case, opening the