CAS 2019/A/6367, Paris Saint-Germain and Neymar Da Silva Santos Junior v. Union des Associations Européennes de Football (UEFA), Award of 17 February 2020 (Operative Part of Award of 17 September 2019)

Abusive or insulting statements made on social media by a player who is not participating in a match, but who is watching in the stadium, fall, in principle, within the scope of the sanctioned “misconduct… [at] competition matches” under Article 15 UEFA Disciplinary Regulations (“DR”), which is lex specialis vis-à-vis Article 11 DR. However, only statements that are directed at a match official breach Article 15 DR. Statements that are made in relation to a controversial scene of the match and stay within certain limits do not breach Article 15 DR. Accordingly, statements such as “it’s a disgrace” and “four guys who do not know anything about football”, describing the Video Assistant Referees in relation to a controversial penalty scene, do not amount to a breach. Since the terms “abuse” (Article 15(1)(b) DR) and “insulting” (Article 15(1)(d) DR) overlap and no guidance on how to distinguish them appears to be provided in the UEFA DR, the less severe provision shall apply (“abuse”). The lack of intention to harm anyone with a statement is not a mitigating factor. On the other hand, the lack of remorse and the number of followers on social media are not aggravating factors either.