- Title: LUXEMBOURG: EX-FOOTBALLER CHALLENGES UEFA TRANSFER DEALS
- Date: 20th June 1995
- Summary: LUXEMBOURG (JUNE 20, 1995) 1. JUDGES ARRIVING IN COURT 2. BELGIAN SOCCER PLAYER JEAN-MARC BOSMAN IN COURT 3. BOSMAN TALKING TO REPORTERS DURING INTERVAL SPEAKING OF HIMSELF BEING A LONE FIGURE FIGHTING AGAINST A POWERFUL MACHINE, BUT HE MIGHT BE SUCCESSFUL WITH THE SUPPORT OF OTHER PLAYERS (FRENCH) 4. BOSMAN'S LAWYER JEAN-LOUIS DUPONT SPEAKING ABOUT CASE (FRENCH) Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
- Embargoed: 5th July 1995 13:00
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- Location: LUXEMBOURG
- City:
- Country: Luxembourg
- Reuters ID: LVADS2JD1ALFU67Z8J3FZUPWD9NC
- Story Text: Belgian footballer Jean-Marc Bosman was described as a hero on Tuesday (June 20) for challenging the UEFA over transfer rights in Europe's highest court.
"He's a real hero," European member of parliament Jim Janssen van Raay told reporters at the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg after the start of Bosman's landmark case against UEFA, European soccer's governing body, and the Belgian soccer union.
He referred to a survey in England which revealed average operational losses of 300,000 pounds ($480,000) a year for second division teams and 50,000 pounds ($80,000) for third division clubs.
Bosman, tailed by hordes of television cameras and reporters in a media frenzy rarely seen at the posh Court of Justice building, said he was confident of winning the case.
"It's all going well, it's looking very positive," he told Reuters. "I don't see why I should stop now, this concerns all the players in Europe.
The grim-looking Belgian sounded bitter and said there had been attempts to bring him down mentally.
He said that he won financial support from some of Europe's national soccer player trade unions only very recently.
John Hall, chairman of English premier league club Newcastle, told Reuters he believed Bosman would win his transfer system case, adding it would hurt his business.
The Court's Advocate General, German Carl Otto Lenz, is not expected to give his opinion on the case before September or October. A final judgement is not expected before early next year.
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