Law does not prohibit pre-contract, but Ancelotti's agreement with Real has restriction.
By Danilo Lavieri, UOL.
The CBF relies on a verbal agreement it has with Carlo Ancelotti to train the Brazilian national team from the middle of next year. But, after all, why not immediately sign a pre-contract with the Italian to guarantee the bond if the law would allow this type of agreement for a coach?
Many people confuse the explanation of this restriction by comparing his situation with that of a player, who can only sign a contract with another team six months before his current contract ends. This does not exist for the position of coach.
The issue is that in the specific case of Ancelotti with Real Madrid, there is a clause on the possibility of renewing the bond and a restriction on signing with a new team without first notifying the Spanish team. That is why the commander's plan is to deliver a formal notice that he will not renew with the Merengues in December of this year.
This type of particularity in an agreement is possible and does not circumvent the law. That's what explains Victor Eleuterio, partner at Bichara e Motta Advogados and member of the National Academy of Sports Law.
"It's not even a case of talking about an off-the-record contract, as there is no interest in hiding anything. This case would be a pre-contract to be effective from July 2024. A club and national team contract could even overlap, in my view. What can happen is that in the contract between coach and team there is a specific clause vetoing this situation. If this were not the case, it would be possible to sign a pre-contract and it would be recommended, but not mandatory, to communicate with the current team", explained Eleuterio.
"There is not the same problem for coaches as for athletes, where you have to wait six months for the end of the contract to be able to sign a new contract," he added.
Eduardo Carlezzo, another specialist in sports law, completes the reasoning and adds that the restriction imposed by Real Madrid is fully within the law.
"Recently FIFA added to the Transfer Regulations a chapter setting out rules on working relationships between coaches and clubs or federations. Before that, there was nothing standardizing the matter. Today, there are rules providing for the basic elements of a contract and the consequences of unfair termination without just cause, for example. However, within these new rules, the text of article 18.3 was not reproduced, which is the one that allows an athlete to freely sign a new contract with another club within the period of the last six months of his current contract, to be started from the finalization of this one", he explained.
"Therefore, since this exception was not made for coaches, signing a new contract with another employer, effective from the end of the current contract, would depend on the agreement of the current employer", he added.
