| 1 | FIFA has welcomed a legal win in a Belgian court which upholds its ban on third-party investors owning players' transfer rights. |
| 2 | The local court in Brussels rejected legal arguments that the ban broke European Union competition laws, FIFA said in a statement on Monday. |
| 3 | Banning third-party ownership (TPO) is "indispensable for preserving clubs' and players' independence and for ensuring the integrity of matches and competitions," FIFA said. |
| 4 | The case to suspend implementing FIFA's ban was brought by lawyers for the Doyen Sports Investments fund and Belgian second-division club Seraing United. |
| 5 | The third-party investment model was most popular with agents, investors and clubs in Latin America, Spain and Portugal. |
| 6 | They argue it let clubs sign players who otherwise cost too much. |
| 7 | Critics said the investment model sucked money from football, caused players to be transferred for profit-taking rather than sporting reasons and threatened the game's integrity. |
| 8 | The FIFA ban was agreed by its executive committee and took effect in May, following a campaign by UEFA. |
| 9 | UEFA and international players' union FIFPro have teamed up to fight another test of TPO's legality. |
| 10 | They asked the European Commission also to impose a ban, countering an earlier protest against FIFA filed to the commission by the leagues in Spain and Portugal. |
| 11 | The Brussels court's decision on Friday is the second defeat this month for lawyer Jean-Louis Dupont fighting football's governing bodies. |
| 12 | Dupont was part of Doyen's legal team and also represented fan groups and a Belgian player's agent in an action against UEFA's Financial Fair Play rules which failed at the European Union's Court of Justice. |
| 13 | The Belgian lawyer made his name 20 years ago by winning the landmark Bosman ruling which gave players greater contractual freedom. |