Players will meet with Romário after protests over the General Sports Law

Soccer players will meet with Senator Romário’s team (PL-RJ), this Tuesday (12), to discuss the General Sports Law.

During the weekend, some matches were the scene of protests from athletes who spent the first minute of the game stopped, with their hands over their mouths. They complain that the proposal, the biggest legislative change in Brazilian sport since the creation of the Pelé Law, has points that harm them.

The bill, which came from the Senate, was approved in the Chamber last Wednesday (6). As its text has undergone changes, it will be appreciated by the senators again, which could happen this week.

For this reason, an entity called União dos Atletas de Futebol das Séries ABCD scheduled a meeting with the team of senator and former player Romário, now a pre-candidate for reelection in Rio de Janeiro.

The meeting will be virtual and should take place around lunchtime. In addition to the criticism of the text, the athletes ask that the former striker be the rapporteur of the project – which in practice would give him more decision-making power on new changes.

The possibilities for changing the text, however, are limited. The Senate can now only undo changes that have taken place in the House, but cannot propose new rules, for example.

The General Sports Law consolidates the Pelé Law and several other sports legislation in a single text.

After the text was approved in the Chamber, some football players, such as Diego Ribas and Lucas Leiva, took to the networks saying that the text brings advances, but has problems, replicating content created by the União dos Atletas.

“We must be heard so that a balance is found”, said the Flamengo player.

The entity complains that some changes in the law – especially the new rules for dismissals – harm players, who in turn would not have been heard.

Rapporteur of the project in the Chamber, deputy Felipe Carreras (PSB-PE), says that there is, in the case of football players, a vacuum of representation.

He also states that he met, for example, with FAAP (Federation of Associations of Professional Athletes), in addition to having meetings with the Council of Athletes of the COB (Olympic Committee of Brazil) and with Atletas Pelo Brasil, an entity that represents Olympic athletes.

In a note, the ABCD Series Soccer Athletes Union complains that the new project increases from 40% to 50% the share of remuneration that they can receive as image rights. There is also dissatisfaction with the definition of the night shift from 11:59 pm instead of 10 pm, as it is currently.

But the main point of tension is the changes made to the termination and dismissal rules.

Under current law, the minimum amount of termination fine is equal to 100% of what remains to be paid until the end of the contract and must be paid in cash. The new project establishes that this amount can be paid in installments and that it is at least 50%, a claim from the clubs.

Carreiras recalls that, during the debate on the project and at the request of the athletes, a provision was included that determines that, for contracts shorter than 12 months, the fine for dismissal remains at 100%.

“What the clubs ask for in the part of the termination I think is fair, because it does not exempt the possibility of having a fine of 500%, it is enough to be in the contract, but it allows the club to have a fine of 50%”, says the deputy.

The proposal also defines that, if a player signs with another club before receiving the full amount to which he would have been entitled from his former team, the previous employer is exempt from paying the remainder of the salary if the athlete’s new salary is higher than the he was paid before — and, being smaller, the previous club would only pay the difference.

“We set, for contracts of up to one year, a fine of 100%, to preserve players with shorter contracts. Now, if you have a five-year contract, the player doesn’t pay, the fans don’t want it and the contract is terminated? Then the club pays for the five years and the player will still receive a salary from another club that hires him?”, asks the deputy.

Now back in the Senate, the text can be voted on this week, but the president of the House, Rodrigo Pacheco (PSD-MG) has not yet officially released the agenda of agendas that should be debated in the coming days.

Rapporteur of the matter before the text went to the Chamber, Senator Leila Barros (PDT-DF) stated that, if she resumes this position during the new round of debates on the text, she will hear all the affected parties.

“[Inicialmente], I met with dozens of entities representing the sports world, including football players. We received hundreds of suggestions, of which I accepted the majority, and I made changes that were suggested by several parliamentarians”, she said.

Despite the noise surrounding football, the General Sports Law deals with several other topics related to sports in general.

The project foresees, for example, an increase in the penalty for cases of racism in the sports environment, parity between awards for men and women, punishment for corrupt top hats and support for athletes to express their personal opinions.