A sports consulting firm accused him of evading payment of 440,<> dirhams

Famous footballer obliged to "decisive oath" in legal dispute

The law provides that the oath shall be taken in the form approved by the court. Archival

The Court of Appeal in Dubai upheld a ruling by the Court of First Instance to reject a lawsuit filed by a sports consulting and legal services company for a famous Emirati football player, due to the lack of jurisdiction of the courts, so the company transferred its legal dispute to the Players' Status and Transfer Committee of the Football Association, demanding that the player be obligated to pay an amount of 440 thousand dirhams worth of works and services provided to him related to his transfer to a famous club in Dubai, but the committee rejected the company's requests, which resorted to the Appeal Committee of the Federation.

In its appeal, the plaintiff company requested that the decisive oath be given to the player if he denied the companies' dues to him, according to the Federal Evidence Act, which was approved by the committee in an unusual step in sports disputes, but amended the wording of the oath, to be linked to the company's role in the negotiations that took place between the player and the club he plays for, and the player took the oath, and the judgment was issued in his favor on this basis.

In detail, a sports consulting and legal services firm demanded a famous football player to pay 440,<> dirhams for the value of services provided to him under an agreement written between them, and oblige him to take the decisive oath regarding his acknowledgment and pledge to commit to paying the amount to the complainant while signing the contract for a famous club that he signed for him.

The company filed a lawsuit against the player before the Civil Court of First Instance in Dubai, but its lawsuit was rejected, so it appealed against the ruling to the Court of Appeal, but the latter upheld the ruling for lack of jurisdiction, so it resorted to the Player Transfer Committee of the Football Association.

The company based its complaint on the fact that it contracted with the player in January of 2020, and provided him with sports and legal consulting services, related to contracting with a well-known club, in exchange for paying an amount of 440 thousand dirhams, explaining that the agreement concluded between them focused on the entitlement of these fees as soon as the contract for the sports offer was signed, with the player authorizing the company according to the contract to write the amounts due to it by hand on a percentage basis, but he refrained from paying what he owed to it.

After considering the complaint, the Players' Status and Transfer Committee of the Dispute Resolution Chamber issued its decision to reject the complaint, and the company appealed the decision before the Appeal Committee, stating among the reasons for its appeal that the Players' Status and Transfer Committee violated the right of defense by neglecting to give the decisive oath in the event that the player denies its dues, despite the availability of the conditions for directing the oath, by virtue of Article 20 of the Regulations of Appeal, which stipulates in part that national laws may be relied upon unless stipulated in this regard.

The Appeal Committee responded to this argument as correct, noting that the principle is to invoke the regulations of the Federation in the first place, but in light of the absence of regulations regulating matters of oath, it is inevitable to resort to national legislation, which in this case is Federal Law No. 35 of 2022 on evidentiary matters.

The committee explained that the law stipulates that the oath shall be in the form approved by the court, and the amendment shall be to the formula required by the plaintiff in order to achieve justice between the parties, and set a date for the decisive oath by the player.

In its decision, the Committee stated that the appellant company submitted a proposal for the form of the oath to be performed, but the Committee amended it to be «I swear by God Almighty to say all the truth and nothing but the truth, that the company and its representative, as my mediators by virtue of the contract concluded between us, did not perform any business, services or negotiation with the company affiliated with the club, and they had no role in signing the contract concluded between me and the club, and I did not undertake to pay any amounts to them».

For his part, the player took the decisive oath in the form approved by the committee, and then the appellant becomes a loser for his appeal according to the law of evidence, and then the committee ruled in favor of the player, rejecting the company's appeal and obliging it to pay fees and expenses.

The player's legal representative, lawyer Hessa Salem Al Hammadi, said that the decision issued by the committee is final in the case filed by the brokerage firm, and decisive for the dispute that lasted about two years.

• Dubai Appeal upheld the ruling of the first degree rejecting the lawsuit of a sports consulting company.

• A sports consulting firm asked the court to give a decisive oath to the player if he denied its dues.