The sporting industry is one of the most
lucrative in the world. With growing social and media
interest in sport, the values and salaries of professional
players continue to increase exponentially, and fierce
competition within individual sports makes the process of
negotiating player contracts critically important. The
inclusion in contemporary times of what are known as
‘buyout clauses’ in professional sporting contracts raises
questions of both legality and integrity, both of which this
article will explore in the context of Association Football
(Soccer). Such clauses permit a player or another club to
pay a stipulated sum in the contract and effectively terminate
the agreement, irrespective of its stipulated duration.
From a legal perspective, buyout clauses can
potentially be classified as liquidated damages clauses or
penalties – which may render them unenforceable – further
muddying the regulatory framework in which such clauses
operate in a sporting context. More broadly, buyout clauses
challenge the very integrity of sport and the rationale
underpinning sporting player contracts in the way they
foster player disloyalty, promote competition monopoly,
undermine the purpose of longer-term player contracts and
over-commercialise sport. This article will argue that
buyout clauses not only sit uncomfortably with the law of
contract and the rules of football but challenge the very
integrity of the sport itself.

EB00000003544K

Available

• Buy-out clauses in professional football player contracts: questions of legality and integrity