On 29 July 2022, the Arbitration Committee of KNVB [Royal Dutch Football Association] ruled that the employment contract of the amateur trainer of FC De Bilt, Mr John Vink, will be terminated on 1 September 2022, and awarded Vink limited compensation.
Background
On 1 August 2021, FC De Bilt employed Vink as a trainer of the first men’s team for one season. His employment contract was renewed for one more season (till 30 June 2023) thanks to positive sports results. However, shortly after the contract renewal a sportive decline set in, and the club feared relegation. FC De Bilt then decided, without informing Vink, to approach another ‘experienced’ trainer and ask him to support Vink in the four remaining matches of the season. When he was asked to accept this support, Vink refused. Vink finished the season by himself and FC De Bilt was not relegated.After the season, the parties began talks about the continuation of the employment. Vink argued that there had been a breach of trust, because FC De Bilt had approached another trainer behind his back. Eventually, FC De Bilt made Vink a termination proposal, but Vink did not agree to it. The club then petitioned the Arbitration Committee to terminate the employment contract.
Termination of the employment contract and compensation
It was not disputed in the proceedings whether a reasonable ground for dismissal existed, because both the club and the trainer stated at the hearing that they wished the employment contract to be terminated. The key question in the proceedings was therefore which compensation Vink could claim as a result of the early termination of the employment contract.The Arbitration Committee considered what the two parties could be blamed for in this context. The Arbitration Committee blamed FC De Bilt for having approached another trainer behind Vink’s back, which the Committee considered to show little trust in Vink and to be unusual. Furthermore, in the Committee’s opinion FC De Bilt had also done too little to restore trust by not telling Vink sooner and more wholeheartedly that, even though they had approached another trainer, they wanted to keep Vink. Vink, on the other hand, was mainly blamed for his refusal to look at any other solutions than a premature termination of the employment contract after the other trainer had been approached. FC De Bilt had made several suggestions to restore trust together, but Vink had brushed these aside.
Comments
It happens rarely that the KNVB Arbitration Committee decides to terminate the employment contract of a football trainer. Football trainers often have fixed-term employment contracts that cannot be terminated in the interim. As a matter of principle, upon premature termination the remaining wage value (i.e. the salary until the end of the original contract term) must be paid.
This ruling is interesting and of use to clubs (and trainers) in negotiations, because it confirms that depending on the circumstances, a much lower compensation than the remaining wage value may be appropriate. A previous ruling in which a trainer’s employment contract was terminated and the remaining wage value was moderated by the Arbitration Committee was the case of Oliseh / Fortuna Sittard from 2018. In that case, Oliseh was awarded compensation of about eight gross monthly salaries, although his contract still had 13 months left.
