Just cause for unpaid salaries
Also called article 14bis
A player whose club unlawfully fails to pay at least two monthly salaries has just cause to terminate, provided they first put the club in default in writing and allow at least 15 days to comply.
This is the clearest of the termination routes, and the one most often mishandled, because the procedure matters as much as the arrears. Two monthly salaries unpaid on their due dates is the trigger. The written default notice and a deadline of at least 15 days are conditions, not formalities: skip them and the termination is exposed.
Where salaries are not paid monthly, the pro rata value corresponding to two months is used instead. Delayed payment of an amount equal to at least two months also counts, subject to the same notice requirements.
Contracts in force when the provision came into effect may contain alternative arrangements, and those may be taken into account.
For an agent the operative point is the paper trail. The right exists only if the default notice and the deadline can be produced afterwards.
Worked example
A player is unpaid for March and April.
Terminating in May without more is a risk. Putting the club in default in writing, allowing at least 15 days, and terminating only if it stays unpaid is the route the article actually describes.
Source: FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, January 2026 edition, art. 14bis
Related terms
- Sporting just causeSporting just cause allows an established professional who has appeared in fewer than ten per cent of their club’s official matches in a season to terminate their contract early.
- Overdue payablesOverdue payables are amounts a club has delayed paying to a player or another club for more than 30 days without a prima facie contractual basis, which may be sanctioned.