Outcry in the football industry! Is the end of fixed-term employment contracts in professional sports approaching?

A ruling by the Mainz Labor Court dated March 19, 2015 (ref.: 3 Ca 1197/14) is currently causing considerable excitement in professional sports. In this context, many commentators are already talking about a “revolution for professional football” and are drawing comparisons with the Bosman ruling. What happened?

Fixed-term contracts also set limits in professional football

To the surprise of many association representatives and legal experts, the Mainz labor court upheld the lawsuit brought by goalkeeper Heinz Müller, 36, against the limitation of his employment contract with the Bundesliga club 1. FSV Mainz 05. In its judgment, the labor court followed the opinion of the player, who considered the temporary extension of his contract for two further years to be ineffective in the absence of a material reason within the meaning of the part-time and fixed-term employment law and wanted it to be determined that his employment relationship continued indefinitely. In the opinion of the labor court, the age-related uncertain performance development of the professional football player in the future is not a peculiarity of the work performance within the meaning of Section 14 Paragraph 1 Sentence 2 No. 4 TzBfG that would justify a fixed-term employment relationship. The labor court was also not convinced by the club's justified reference to the industry standard for such time limits in professional sports.

The decision is far from final

Although the reasons for the judgment are not yet available, the club has already announced in an initial statement to the press that it will appeal the decision. Many experts believe the appeal has a good chance because the labor court did not sufficiently take the special features of professional sport into account in its decision. It remains to be seen whether the appeal court will actually look at the matter through the lens of professional sports more than the first instance. The old wisdom of Sepp Herberger also applies in court: “After the game is before the game“! However, if the verdict is confirmed, professional athletes and clubs alike will face significant labor law problems as a result of its consequences.

Solution to the problem through a collective agreement?

The players' union VdV has already proposed the conclusion of a collective agreement in accordance with Section 14 Paragraph 2 Sentence 3 TzBfG as a solution, with which both the maximum duration of the unfounded fixed-term contract and the number of extensions deviate from the legal regulation (max. two years with three extension) could be determined. However, the LEAGUE ASSOCIATION will probably ignore this proposal from the players' union until a higher court has made a decision on the issue of limiting employment contracts with professional football players.
Further links on the topic:
Press release from the Mainz Labor Court