Former SAFA CEO Raymond Hack feels that Brazilian star Lucas Ribeiro is fighting a losing battle against Mamelodi Sundowns as he seeks to terminate his contract to move abroad.
Riberio took his case to the FIFA Football Tribunal, citing that he had “just cause” to have his contract cut short. His contract with Sundowns is supposed to end in June 2028 after his reported move to Fluminense and Qatar SC didn’t materialise as they could not reach an agreement with Downs.
“I believe that I have just cause to terminate my contract with Mamelodi Sundowns FC, which I will explain before the FIFA Football Tribunal,” Ribeiro declared in a statement.
Hack, who is a former FIFA Member and a sports attorney, is positive that Ribeiro doesn’t have a case here, as the club is within its rights to determine the value of a player for a potential transfer.
“Sundowns are the ones to determine the value. Nobody else can determine the value. You know, you’ve got a case in the United Kingdom at the moment with Alexander Isak, where Liverpool offered £115 million and Newcastle [United] say, “Well, he’s worth £150 million.”
“Well, show me a scale that determines what the value is. It’s a thumbsack. Everybody determines what they think the value is. It’s up to the clubs to determine the value, he said.
The 26-year-old had an impressive 24/25 season, netting 21 goals and providing 14 assists across all competitions. He won the PSL Player of the Season award and the Goal of the Tournament at the FIFA Club World Cup.
The Brazilian also believes judicial precedent is on his side. He pointed to the landmark ruling in the Lassana Diarra case by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU), which strengthened players’ rights to challenge restrictive contracts. However, Hack feels that Ribeiro’s situation is different from the Diarra case, as he is based in South Africa.
“Firstly, the situation is that the Court of Justice of the European Union found that the FIFA rules were not compatible with the treaty on the functioning of the European Union. the European Union specifically concerning workers’ freedom of movement and the prohibition of cartels,” Hack added.
“As a result of that, the ruling has prompted FIFA to initiate a global dialogue to review and potentially amend the regulations concerning players’ contract stability and transfer to comply with European law, leading maybe to a change in the transfer market.
“But that’s in European law. We are in South Africa. We are governed by the rules of the Confederation of African Football [CAF].
“Yes. If there’s a dispute, then FIFA will get involved but at this stage CAF would be the one and I don’t see on what basis the player would succeed because as good as the lawyer may be for the Bosman case that was many years ago and there been many cases since then this was a case where the European Court of Justice for the European Union found that the rules were weren’t compatible with European law not with African law or with CAF rules and regulations.
“So, it’s a completely different ball game,” he concluded.