What FIFA's regulations say about unpaid wage walkouts as Sheffield Wednesday near dangerous date
Sheffield Wednesday are approaching a dangerous date in their unpaid wage saga, with some players about to reach two months without payment.
At the time of writing a number of senior Owls are still owed money for the month of May, with only a handful of them believed to have been paid up... The names of those paid/unpaid are not known at this point in time, however those contracted for next season who have not, will soon be in a position to inform the club that they wish for their deals to be terminated.
Wednesday’s players are usually paid on the last day of the month, which in this case is Monday, so if they’re late in doing so once again then anyone who wishes to do so will be able to hand in their 15-day notice - giving the club 15 days to settle their debt ‘fully’ before they’re free to effectively rip up their contracts.
FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players
In the section labelled ‘Terminating a contract with just cause for outstanding salaries’ of FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, it reads:
1. In the case of a club unlawfully failing to pay a player at least two monthly salaries on their due dates, the player will be deemed to have a just cause to terminate his contract, provided that he has put the debtor club in default in writing and has granted a deadline of at least 15 days for the debtor club to fully comply with its financial obligation(s). Alternative provisions in contracts existing at the time of this provision coming into force may be considered.
2. For any salaries of a player which are not due on a monthly basis, the pro-rata value corresponding to two months shall be considered. Delayed payment of an amount which is equal to at least two months shall also be deemed a just cause for the player to terminate his contract, subject to him complying with the notice of termination as per paragraph 1 above.
3. Collective bargaining agreements validly negotiated by employers’ and employees’ representatives at domestic level in accordance with national law may deviate from the principles stipulated in paragraphs 1 and 2 above. The terms of such an agreement shall prevail.
Wednesday have been in a similar situation before in 2021 when they also went two months without payment, and nobody ended up leaving for free after the matter was settled... There are concerns that they may not be able to fix things this time around.