By Lehlohonolo Lehana.
Lucas Ribeiro Costa has referred his contractual saga with Mamelodi Sundowns to the FIFA Football Tribunal for a ruling on the consequences of his termination of the contract with the club.
Ribeiro announces that he has terminated his employment contract with Sundowns FC on 1 August 2025.
“I believe that I have just cause to terminate my contract with Mamelodi Sundowns FC, which I will explain before the FIFA Football Tribunal,” Ribeiro said in a statement.
“However, in any event, following the Diarra ruling by the CJEU, there is no doubt that the dispute between me and my former club will not prevent me from continuing my career with peace of mind: indeed, following its own regulations (as amended in light of the Diarra judgement), FIFA will see to it that the international transfer certificate be immediately delivered upon request by my future employer.
“I have received expressions of interest from various clubs, including some within the European Union, and I will now consider what is best for the future of my career in order to make the right choice, i.e. the one that will allow me to flourish as a sportsman and try to provide for the future of my family, knowing that a player’s career is short and unpredictable.
As a reminder, following the DIARRA ruling, my next employer will not be involved in the dispute between me and Mamelodi Sundowns FC, neither from a disciplinary perspective nor financially”
Fullview understands his contract with Sundowns is due to expire in 2028.
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) in October 2024 ruled in favour of former Arsenal, Chelsea and Real Madrid midfielder Lassana Diarra after it found central parts of FIFA’s transfer rules break European Union law. It is a landmark judgement expected to improve professional footballers’ freedom of movement.
Diarra was involved in a dispute with Lokomotiv Moscow in 2014 and left the Russian club, leading to a dispute in the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC). Sections of the FIFA regulations prevented him from taking up a new contract offer in Belgium.
At the age of 29, at the peak of his career, the Frenchman spent a year without a club. Diarra subsequently had stints with Marseille and Paris Saint-Germain before ending his 15-year playing career in 2019.
According to Diarra, the regulations unfairly interrupted and negatively impacted his career. The ECJ ruled in Diarra’s favour in the sense that the judges confirmed that the FIFA rules are contrary to EU laws, forcing FIFA to adapt their regulations.
Ribeiro recently participated with Sundowns in the FIFA Club World Cup, where he was awarded the prize for the best goal of the tournament.