CAS Case Digest · Verified against the full award text

CAS 2015/A/4322 — Dubai Cultural Sports Club v. André Alves Dos Santos

"Dubai Cultural Sports Club v. Alves Dos Santos" · CAS confirmed that a Brazilian player validly terminated his UAE club contract with just cause due to unpaid salaries, exclusion from training, and non-delivery of a contractually promised car.

What happened in Dubai Cultural Sports Club v. Alves Dos Santos

André Alves Dos Santos, a Brazilian professional footballer, entered into an employment contract with Dubai Cultural Sports Club on 1 July 2013, running until 30 June 2015, providing for a monthly salary of USD 62,500, a signing fee, housing allowance, and a car. Within months, the Club failed to pay salaries for August and September 2013, excluded the Player from team training by placing him on an individual schedule at extreme hours, and failed to deliver the contractually promised car. After three formal notices of default between 7 and 14 October 2013, the Player terminated the contract on 16 October 2013 and filed a claim before the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC). On 10 April 2015, the FIFA DRC upheld the Player's claim, ordering the Club to pay USD 128,000 in outstanding salaries and air fares, USD 1,220,500 in compensation for breach of contract, and AED 100,000 for housing allowance, all with 5% p.a. interest. The Club appealed to CAS. The Panel dismissed the appeal in full, confirming the DRC decision. The case is significant for reaffirming that non-payment of salary, exclusion from team training without justification, and failure to provide contractually agreed benefits each independently constitute just cause for termination, and that a player need not show his livelihood is endangered.

Procedural history of CAS 2015/A/4322

On 1 July 2013, Dubai Cultural Sports Club and André Alves Dos Santos entered into an employment contract. The Player terminated the contract on 16 October 2013 and on 17 October 2013 filed a claim before the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (FIFA DRC). On 10 April 2015, the FIFA DRC issued its decision upholding the Player's claim, ordering the Club to pay USD 128,000 as outstanding salaries (August and September 2013 plus USD 3,000 for air fares), USD 1,220,500 as compensation for breach of contract, and AED 100,000 for housing allowance, all accruing interest at 5% p.a. The grounds of the decision were communicated to the Parties on 10 November 2015. On 1 December 2015, the Club filed its Statement of Appeal with CAS, seeking to overturn the DRC decision in its entirety and requesting that the Player be ordered to pay the Club USD 191,333.35 plus interest. A hearing was held in Lausanne on 12 April 2016.

Key holdings in CAS 2015/A/4322

• Non-payment or late payment of salary by a club constitutes just cause for a player to terminate an employment contract, without requiring that the player's livelihood be endangered.
• A club's exclusion of a player from training with teammates, absent justification such as injury recovery, violates the contractual obligation to provide a suitable training environment and constitutes just cause for termination.
• A payment made by a club to a player's former club prior to the employment contract, and not provided for in the contract, cannot be deducted from the player's contractual salary as an advance payment.
• Fines allegedly imposed on a player for poor performance or training absences are invalid where there is insufficient evidence that they were validly communicated to the player in accordance with the contractual communication provisions.
• UAE labor law's limitation on compensation to a maximum of three months' salary does not override the compensation calculation under Art. 17.1 FIFA RSTP, which takes into account the remaining contract duration and amounts earned at a new club.

How the CAS panel reasoned

The Panel analysed the three grounds invoked by the Player as just cause for termination: non-payment of salaries, non-delivery of the car, and exclusion from training. On salary, the Panel rejected the Club's two principal defences. First, the EUR 105,000 payment to club Omonia Nicosia was made eight days before the contract was signed, was not mentioned anywhere in the contract, and had never been raised as a defence in the DRC proceedings — the Club had in fact acknowledged the outstanding salaries before the DRC. Second, the alleged fines totalling 85% of a monthly salary were found to lack evidence of valid communication to the Player under the contractual communication provisions, and were not referenced in any pre-termination correspondence. On the car, the Panel found that Art. 6 of the Contract imposed an unconditional delivery obligation with no precondition of a UAE driving licence. On exclusion from training, the Panel found it undisputed that the Player was placed on an individual schedule at 07:00 and 16:30 without teammates or coaching staff, and was de-registered from the team only three months after signing. The Panel held that three formal notices over nine days gave the Club sufficient opportunity to cure, and that the Club's responses showed no genuine intent to comply. On compensation, the Panel upheld the DRC's methodology of remaining contract value minus new earnings, rejecting the UAE labour law cap as insufficiently established under Art. 17.1 FIFA RSTP.

Why Dubai Cultural Sports Club v. Alves Dos Santos matters in CAS jurisprudence

The award reinforces the principle, drawn from CAS 2006/A/1180 and CAS 2012/A/2967, that repeated late or non-payment of salary constitutes just cause for termination regardless of whether the player's livelihood is at risk. It also confirms that exclusion from team training without legitimate justification independently breaches a club's contractual duty to provide a suitable training environment. The Panel's rejection of the UAE labour law compensation cap under Art. 17 FIFA RSTP illustrates CAS's consistent preference for the FIFA RSTP framework over domestic employment law limitations when calculating breach-of-contract compensation.

Cases cited in this award

CAS 2006/A/1180 CAS 2003/O/540 & 541 CAS 2005/A/893 CAS 2006/A/1100 CAS 2012/A/2967

Frequently asked questions about Dubai Cultural Sports Club v. Alves Dos Santos

Did Dubai Cultural Sports Club successfully argue that paying the player's former club EUR 105,000 should be deducted from his salary?

No. The Panel rejected this argument because the EUR 105,000 payment to club Omonia Nicosia was not mentioned anywhere in the employment contract, was made eight days before the contract was signed, and had never been raised as a defence in the FIFA DRC proceedings. The Panel concluded the payment was a direct payment from the Club to Omonia Nicosia in consideration for the Player's freedom to contract.

What compensation was awarded to André Alves Dos Santos for the Club's breach of contract?

The FIFA DRC ordered the Club to pay USD 128,000 as outstanding salaries for August and September 2013 plus USD 3,000 for air fares, USD 1,220,500 as compensation for breach of contract, and AED 100,000 for housing allowance, all with 5% p.a. interest. CAS confirmed this award in full and additionally ordered the Club to pay CHF 4,000 towards the Player's legal costs.

Can a UAE club limit its compensation liability to three months' salary under UAE labour law when a player terminates with just cause under FIFA RSTP?

The Panel held that the Club failed to establish how the UAE Labour Code limitation could be applied given the content of Art. 17.1 FIFA RSTP and the applicable law of the dispute. The Panel found the unspecified claim insufficient to justify a different compensation calculation and confirmed the DRC's methodology based on remaining contract value minus new earnings.

Does excluding a professional player from training with teammates constitute just cause for termination under CAS jurisprudence?

Yes. The Panel found that placing the Player on an individual training schedule at 07:00 and 16:30 without teammates, coaches, or technical staff, and de-registering him from the team only three months after signing, violated Art. 8 of the Contract requiring a suitable training environment. The Panel held this exclusion, combined with unpaid salaries and non-delivery of the car, justified the Player's termination with just cause on 16 October 2013.

Topics: Art. 17 RSTP & contract termination at CAS

Source: official award. This digest was generated by LexXi from the full award text and machine-verified against it — every figure, article and citation above appears in the source. It is an editorial summary, not legal advice. See how ElevenLex verification works.