The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld the appeals filed by FC Schalke 04, SV Werder Bremen and FC Barcelona, who were protesting FIFA’s orders to release players – Rafinha, Diego and Lionel Messi, respectively — for the men’s Olympic tournament, an under-23 competition. But it seems unlikely that Barcelona will demand Messi to return from China and the German clubs have already given the Brazilians permission to stay in China. FIFA President Sepp Blatter, however, said the decision could have dire consequences in the future.
“If this ruling is applied to all the players here then we have no Olympic tournament,” said Blatter. “This is absolutely nonsense. I cannot understand how CAS, which is an emanation of the Olympic movement, made such a ruling.”
The CAS’s statement included:
“The Olympic Soccer Tournament Beijing 2008 is not included in the Co-ordinated Match Calendar and there is no specific decision of the FIFA Executive Committee establishing the obligation for the clubs to release players under-23 for this tournament. The requirements to justify a legal obligation of clubs to release their players for the Soccer Tournament Beijing 2008 on the basis of customary law are not met.”