Ghana’s acclaimed Right to Dream Academy has won a significant legal battle against FIFA at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) over the allocation of development fees linked to Ernest Nuamah’s record-breaking transfer, a report on African football news website AfricaSoccer.com has revealed.
The ruling annulled a controversial decision by FIFA that had directed solidarity contributions from Nuamah’s €25 million move to a club with only minimal involvement in the player’s early development.
The Lausanne-based court ruled in favour of Right to Dream and ordered football’s governing body to reassess its stance based on newly presented evidence.
CAS corrects history and redirects funds
At the heart of the case was Nuamah’s 2023 transfer from Danish club FC Nordsjaelland—owned by Right to Dream—to RWD Molenbeek in Belgium, before a structured loan agreement with French giants Olympique Lyonnais. The sale, facilitated by Lyon’s parent company Eagle Football Holdings, was the largest ever in the history of the Danish Superliga.
Under FIFA’s solidarity mechanism, five percent of international transfer fees are reserved for clubs that developed the player between ages 12 and 23. However, the governing body’s database listed Ghanaian side Stadium Youth Club as a primary beneficiary, despite the fact that Nuamah left them at around age eight.
CAS has now instructed FIFA to reassign those funds, determining that Right to Dream served as Nuamah’s true development club during the eligible period. The court estimated Right to Dream is owed at least €283,919 from the initial sale to Molenbeek alone, with additional payments expected once Lyon’s obligation to buy is activated this year.
FIFA stance overturned
FIFA maintained throughout that it followed its records in good faith and denied any procedural misstep. But CAS disagreed, ruling that the registration data in FIFA’s Transfer Matching System (TMS) was outdated and failed to reflect Nuamah’s actual youth trajectory.
Right to Dream’s legal team, led by Danish sports lawyer Jes Christian Fisker, argued successfully that the inaccurate listing deprived the academy of vital funding and undermined the spirit of FIFA’s own regulations.
“It’s a major victory for development academies in Africa,” a source close to the proceedings said. “The precedent it sets could encourage others to challenge similar administrative errors.”
Complex path to Lyon
Nuamah’s journey to the French top flight came via an unconventional route. Though sold to Belgian outfit Molenbeek in August 2023, the Ghanaian international was immediately loaned to Lyon with an obligation to buy in 2024—a structure made possible by the shared ownership under American investor John Textor.
While the transaction raised eyebrows in regulatory circles—some observers suspected a potential bridge transfer—both the Danish and French football associations cleared the move after assurances were given by relevant authorities.
Early years clarified
In an earlier interview with AfricaSoccer.com, Nuamah confirmed that he joined Right to Dream at age 10. Before that, he had spent two years with Real Soccer Angels FC, a local grassroots club that nurtured him from the age of eight. Right to Dream has already made a resale payment of nine million Ghanaian cedis to Real Soccer Angels for their role in the player’s formative years.
Conversely, Stadium Youth Club, which only worked with Nuamah between ages six and eight, ceased operations years ago. Had CAS not intervened, the solidarity payments designated for them would likely have been transferred to the Ghana Football Association, as per FIFA’s policy when a recipient club is defunct.
A rare setback for FIFA
FIFA rarely suffers legal defeats at CAS, making this decision a noteworthy blow to its credibility in managing youth development data and transfer payments. By reversing the ruling and returning the matter to FIFA for correction, CAS reinforced the need for diligence in maintaining accurate player records—especially in less digitised footballing jurisdictions.
Right to Dream’s victory highlights the vulnerabilities of young African players whose career data often becomes fragmented when they move abroad. The decision could embolden more academies across the continent to contest similar misallocations of solidarity compensation.
With Lyon set to finalise their purchase of Nuamah in the coming months, Right to Dream could benefit further from additional payments under revised conditions. Meanwhile, Nuamah continues to thrive with the Ghana national team and remains on the radar of Premier League clubs, joining a long line of exports from the West African academy, including Mohammed Kudus, Simon Adingra, and Kamaldeen Sulemana.
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