A London-based hedge fund "filed a complaint with a Paris court seeking to overturn a ban" on investors acquiring football player transfer rights, according to Alex Duff of BLOOMBERG. Doyen Sports Investments Ltd., a unit of Doyen Capital LLP, is accusing football authorities "of breaking several European Union regulations with the restriction, which is scheduled to come into force on May 1." FIFA said in December that "it will ban the practice known as third party-ownership." Last month, the Spanish and Portuguese leagues "complained to the European Commission’s competition arm about the proposal." The French court ordered FIFA, UEFA and the French federation and league "to appear before judges on May 28." Doyen Sports "is based in Malta and controlled by a small group of investors." The complaint states that it acquired €80.4M ($85.2M) of players’ rights from clubs since '11. The fund, which said that it is providing financial assistance to cash-strapped clubs, "is betting the transfer market value of the players will increase" (BLOOMBERG, 3/18).
