AVS – FUTEBOL, SAD v. FIFA and Welinton dos Santos, Lausanne; EUR 40,000 plus interest ordered

AVS – FUTEBOL, SAD v. FIFA and Welinton dos Santos, Lausanne; EUR 40,000 plus interest ordered

Palais de Beaulieu Avenue Bergières 10 CH-1004 Lausanne Tel: +41 21 613 50 00 Fax: +41 21 613 50 01 www.tas-cas.org CAS 2025/A/11640 AVS - FUTEBOL, SAD v. FIFA and Welinton Junior Ferreira dos Santos ARBITRAL AWARD delivered by the COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORT sitting in the following composition:

President: Dr Marco Balmelli, Attorney-at-Law in Basel, Switzerland Arbitrators: Mr Rui Botica Santos, Attorney-at-Law in Lisbon, Portugal Mr Jordi López Batet, Attorney-at-Law in Barcelona, Spain

in the arbitration between

AVS – FUTEBOL, SAD, Portugal

Represented by Mr Fernando Veiga Gomes, Mr. Francisco Côrte-Real and Mr Mário Santos Paiva, Attorneys-at-Law in Lisbon, Portugal

• Appellant - and

Fédération Internationale de Football Association, Switzerland

Represented by Mr Miguel Liétard Fernández-Palacios and Mr Rodrigo Morais, FIFA Litigation Department, Miami, United States of America

• First Respondent - and

Welinton Junior Ferreira dos Santos, Brazil

Represented by Mr Pedro Macieirinha, Attorney-at-Law in Vila Real, Portugal

• Second Respondent -

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I. PARTIES 1. AVS – FUTEBOL, SAD (the “Appellant” or “AVS”) is a professional football club with its registered seat in Vila das Aves, Portugal. It is affiliated to the Portuguese Football Federation (the “FPF”), which, in turn, is affiliated to the Fédération Internationale de Football Association. 2. Fédération Internationale de Football Association (the “First Respondent” or “FIFA”) is an association under Swiss law and has its registered office in Zurich, Switzerland. FIFA is the international governing body for the sport of football and exercises regulatory, supervisory and disciplinary functions over national associations, clubs, officials and players worldwide. 3. Welinton Junior Ferreira dos Santos (the “Second Respondent” or the “Player”) is a professional football player of Brazilian origin born on 8 July 1993. 4. AVS, FIFA and the Player are jointly referred to as the “Parties”, while the First Respondent and Second Respondent are jointly referred to as the “Respondents”. II. FACTUAL BACKGROUND A. Facts of the case 5. Below is a summary of the main facts established on the basis of the decision rendered by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee (the “FIFA DC”) on 2 June 2025 (the “Appealed Decision”), the submissions of the Parties and the evidence examined in the course of the proceedings. This background is set out for the sole purpose of providing a synopsis of the matter in dispute. Additional facts may be referred to, where relevant, in connection with the later legal discussion. While the Panel has considered all the facts, allegations, legal arguments and evidence available in the present proceedings, only the submissions and evidence necessary to explain the reasoning of the award will be referred to in the following paragraphs. a. Prior proceedings between the Player and the sporting entities in Vila das Aves 6. In Vila das Aves, a town in the north of Portugal in the municipality of Santo Tirso, historically existed the football club named Clube Desportivo das Aves (the “Original Aves”) which was founded in 1930. The operations of Original Aves were governed by Sociedade Anónima Desportiva, a special public limited company according to Portuguese law for sport clubs, named CLUBE DESPORTIVO DAS AVES, FUTEBOL, SAD (the “Original Aves SAD”). 7. On 24 July 2019, the Player signed an employment agreement with Original Aves SAD, for the sporting seasons 2019/2020, 2020/2021 and 2021/2022, i.e., from 24 July 2019 until 30 June 2022 (the “Employment Agreement”).

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On 15 March 2020, due to a then outstanding renumeration in the amount of EUR 30,000.00, the Player put Original Aves SAD in default and – after it failed to comply with the deadline set forth in the default notice and with an additional amount of EUR 10,000.00 which became due in April 2020 – terminated the Employment Contract on 6 April 2020. In addition to the then outstanding amount of EUR 40,000.00, the Player also requested a compensation amounting EUR 220,000.00. 9. As the Original Aves SAD failed to pay the claimed amount of EUR 260,000.00 to the Player, he lodged a claim before the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (the “FIFA DRC”). 10. On 10 December 2020 the FIFA DRC rendered its decision Nr. REF 20-00611 (the “Original Decision”) and ruled the following: “1. The claim of the Claimant, Wellinton Junior Ferreira, is accepted. 2. The Respondent, CD Aves, has to pay to the Claimant outstanding remuneration in the amount of EUR 40,000, plus interests, calculated as follows:

5% interest p.a. over the amount of EUR 20,000 as from 23 October 2019 until the date of effective payment;

5% interest p.a. over the amount of EUR 10,000 as from 5 March 2020 until the date of effective payment;

5% interest p.a. over the amount of EUR 10,000 as from 5 April 2020 until the date of effective payment. 3. The Respondent has to pay to the Claimant compensation for breach of contract in the amount of EUR 220,000, plus 5% interest p.a. as from 15 April 2020 until the date of effective payment. […] 6. In the event that the amounts due, plus interest as established above are not paid by the Respondent within 45 days, as from the notification by the of the [sic] relevant bank details to the Respondent, the following consequences shall arise:

1. The Respondent shall be banned from registering any new players, either nationally or internationally, up until the due amount Is paid and for the maximum duration of three entire and consecutive registration periods. The aforementioned ban mentioned will be lifted immediately and prior to its complete serving, once the due amount is paid. (cf. art. 24bis of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players).
2. In the event that the payable amounts as per in this decision is still not paid by the end of the ban of three entire and consecutive registration periods, the

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present matter shall be submitted, upon request, to the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.” 11. On 3 February 2021, a registration ban was imposed on the Original Aves SAD following its failure to comply with the Original Decision. 12. Around October 2020, a new entity named Clube Desportivo Aves 1930 was founded in Vila das Aves (the “New Aves”). 13. After the Original Aves SAD was declared insolvent on 7 January 2021, the Player, on 2 March 2021, filed a request with the FIFA DRC by which New Aves should be deemed the sporting successor of the Original Aves SAD and, as the Original Aves SAD failed to comply with the Original Decision, the sporting sanctions, i.e., the transfer ban for three consecutive transfer periods, should be imposed on New Aves. 14. On 11 February 2022, the Player was informed by FIFA that, after having conducted respective investigations, it was ruled that New Aves was the sporting successor of the Original Aves SAD and therefore, the Original Decision, including the sporting sanctions, applied to New Aves. Such ruling remained unchallenged by New Aves, resulting in it being final and binding. 15. On 22 August 2023, the sporting sanctions imposed on New Aves were automatically lifted, once the three consecutive transfer periods elapsed. b. The Appellant’s history 16. On 6 September 2013, the Appellant was incorporated as União Desportiva Vilafranquense Futebol, SAD with seat in Vila Franca da Xira, a city in the Lisbon district. It was founded by the club União Desportiva Vilafranquense (the “Founding Club”). 17. On 24 February 2023, the Appellant and its founding club concluded a share purchase and sale agreement (the “SPA”) with Números Mouriscos – Unipessoal, Lda. (the “Buyer”) regarding the sale of the Founding Club’s remaining 10% of shares in the Appellant to the Buyer. 18. After the SPA was concluded and executed, the Buyer became the sole shareholder of the Appellant. 19. The SPA contained the following provisions (the “SPA-Obligations”): “4.2. NÚMEROS MOURISCOS undertakes, by 30.06.2023, to remove the reference to the founding club from its firm or corporate name and to cease using the identifying signs of the CLUB, including the mark, symbol and colours or equipment of the CLUB, becoming a public limited sports company without a founding club, and shall change the same before the start of the 2023/2024 sports season.

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4.3. Before the start of the 2023/2024 sports season, UDV, SAD shall move its registered office to outside the Municipality of Vila Franca de Xira, and shall elect and indicate to the LPFP a stadium to play its home matches.” 20. On 23 March 2023, the Appellant signed a lease agreement (the “Lease Agreement”) with Original Aves, who was still the owner of the real estate leased to the Appellant, inter alia the stadium “Estádio do Clube Desportivo das Aves” in Vila das Aves (the “Stadium”). 21. On 24 April 2023, the Appellant also changed its name to “AVS – Futebol, SAD”, which is still in use. B. Proceedings before the FIFA DC 22. On 4 March 2024, the Player lodged his claim before FIFA, requesting the Appellant to be found the successor of New Aves (and, therefore, also of Original Aves and Original Aves SAD) and to be bound by the Original Decision, i.e., to pay the amount of EUR 260,000.00 plus interest to the Player. 23. On 5 March 2024, the Secretariat to the FIFA Judicial Bodies (the “Secretariat”) opened further investigations. Accordingly, and upon request of the latter, the FPF provided FIFA with information and documentation related to the Original Aves, Original Aves SAD, New Aves and the Appellant. 24. On 2 June 2025, the FIFA DC passed the Appealed Decision, which reads, in its operative part, as follows: “1. The Respondent, AVS - Futebol SAD, is found responsible for the debt(s) incurred by the club CD Aves 1930 and, as such, is found responsible for failing to comply in full with the FIFA decision rendered on 10 December 2020 Ref. 20-00611 (the Decision).

2. The Respondent is ordered to pay to the Creditor, Welinton Junior Ferreira dos Santos, as follows:

a. outstanding remuneration in the amount of EUR 40,000, plus interests, calculated as follows:

• 5% interest p.a. over the amount of EUR 20,000 as from 23 October 2019 until the date of effective payment;

• 5% interest p.a. over the amount of EUR 10,000 as from 5 March 2020 until the date of effective payment;

• • 5% interest p.a. over the amount of EUR 10,000 as from 5 April 2020 until the date of effective payment.

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b. compensation for breach of contract in the amount of EUR 220,000, plus 5% interest p.a. as from 15 April 2020 until the date of effective payment.

The Respondent is granted a final deadline of 30 days as from notification of the present Decision in which to pay the amount due. Upon expiry of the aforementioned final deadline and in the event of persistent default or failure to comply in full with the Decision within the period stipulated, a ban on registering new players will be issued until the complete amount due is paid.

The Respondent is ordered to pay a fine to the amount of CHF 20,000. The fine is to be paid within 30 days of notification of the present decision.”

On 11 July 2025, the FIFA DC notified the grounds of the Appealed Decision to the Appellant and the Second Respondent. III. PROCEEDINGS BEFORE THE COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORT 26. On 1 August 2025, the Appellant filed a Statement of Appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (the “CAS”) pursuant to Article R47 and R48 of the Code of Sports- related Arbitration (2025 edition) (the “