Belgium court could throw FIFA player rules into turmoil

BRUSSELS: Some of the most important football action of the summer could take place on Thursday not on a pitch but in a Belgium court and could transform the transfer market.

More than two decades after the Bosman case created freedom of contract, ended nationality quotas and shifted power to the wealthiest clubs, a Brussels court will hear an appeal on third party ownership (TPO) of players, which is banned by football's world governing body, FIFA.