Lassana Diarra Reaches Settlement With FIFA in Transfer Dispute
Last update: June 8, 2026
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After years of legal wrangling that forced FIFA to rewrite its transfer rules, former France midfielder Lassana Diarra has finally reached an agreement with football’s governing body.
Former France international Lassana Diarra has reached an agreement with FIFA and the Belgian football association in his long running 65 million euro legal battle, a source close to the case told reporters on Monday, *cbinews.tv* reports.
The former Arsenal, Chelsea and Real Madrid midfielder’s challenge to FIFA prompted world football’s governing body to amend its transfer rules. That came after a landmark Court of Justice of the European Union ruling in October 2024, but he had been unable to reach a settlement until now.
The CJEU found that FIFA rules impede the free movement of players. It said the rules impose considerable legal risks, unforeseeable and potentially very high financial risks, as well as major sporting risks on players and clubs wishing to employ them, thereby disrupting the transfer system.
The 35 times capped former France international announced last October that he was turning to the Belgian courts to enforce the CJEU ruling.
FIFA indicated that following the comprehensive agreement they reached, Mr Lassana Diarra and FIFA have settled all legal proceedings between them. The body added that FIFA does not acknowledge any wrongdoing and has not made any compensation payments.
Diarra’s lawyers said they could not comment at this stage.
The whole case started with Diarra’s dispute over the terms of his departure from Lokomotiv Moscow in 2014. Due to a drastic reduction in his salary, Diarra left the Moscow club. But the club deemed the termination unfair and demanded 20 million euros from him, later reduced to 10.5 million euros.
As a result, Belgian club Charleroi ultimately decided against signing the French player for fear of having to bear part of those sanctions.
Following the CJEU’s decision, known as the “Diarra ruling,” FIFA adjusted its regulations on player transfers.
The Justice for Players Foundation also launched a class action lawsuit aimed at achieving greater fairness in transfers. Various national professional footballers’ unions have joined the initiative, including the French union UNFP cbinews.tv reports.
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