ARBITRAL AWARD (BAT 0660/15) by the BASKETBALL ARBITRAL TRIBUNAL (BAT) Mr. Ulrich Haas in the arbitration proceedings between Mr. Marius Linartas - Claimant - represented by Mr. Atanas Paulauskas, attorney at law, Gyn ėjų g. 16, 01109 Vilnius, Republic of Lithuania vs. Basketball Club “Krasny Octyabr” Lenina avenue 65, 400005 Volgograd, Russian Federation - Respondent - represented by Mr. Roman Brtka and Dr. Joseph Fesenmair, attorneys at law, Maximiliansplatz 22, 80333 Munich, Germany 1. The Parties 1.1 The Claimant 1. Mr. Marius Linartas (hereinafter also referred to as “the Coach” or “the Claimant”) is a professional basketball coach from Lithuania. 1.2 The Respondent 2. Basketball Club “Krasny Octyabr” (hereinafter also referred to as “the Club” or “the Respondent”) is a professional basketball club located in Volgograd, Russian Federation. 2. The Arbitrator 3. On 10 February 2015, the President of the Basketball Arbitral Tribunal (the “BAT”), Prof. Richard H. McLaren, appointed Prof. Dr. Ulrich Haas as arbitrator (hereinafter the “Arbitrator”) pursuant to Article 8.1 of the Rules of the Basketball Arbitral Tribunal (hereinafter the “BAT Rules”). Neither of the Parties raised any objections to the appointment of the Arbitrator or to his declaration of independence. 3. Facts and Proceedings 3.1 Summary of the Dispute 4. On 4 September 2013, Claimant and Respondent entered into an agreement (hereinafter referred to as “Agreement 1”) whereby Claimant was engaged as assistant scouting coach for the season 2013/2014. The Agreement 1 provided for a monthly salary in the amount of USD 3,000.00 from 15 September 2013 until 15 April 2014 – in total an amount of USD 24,000.00. Furthermore, the Agreement 1 provided the Arbitral Award 2/54 (BAT 0660/15) following bonus payments for the season 2013/2014: winner of VTB-league USD 15,000.00, 2nd place in play-offs USD 10,000.00, 3rd place in play-offs USD 7,000.00, and for entering VTB play-offs USD 3,000.00. 5. The following payments in USD were registered in Claimant’s bank account [bank details]: 25 September 2013 2,990.00 [bank details] 4 November 2013 5,990.00 [bank details] 27 December 2013 2,990.00 [bank details] 7 February 2014 4,490.00 [bank details] 3 March 2014 4,490.00 [bank details] 21 March 2014 4,490.00 [bank details] 25 April 2015 4,490.00 [bank details] 2 May 2014 2,990.00 [bank details] 6. On or about 23 October 2013, Claimant was provided with a work permit for foreign citizens or stateless people issued by the Federal Migration Service of Russia. The work permit was valid from 23 October 2013 until 22 October 2015. 7. On 7 November 2013, Joint Stock Company Sport-Expo, a closed joint-stock company (hereinafter also referred to as “Sport-Expo”) and ALFA-Bank concluded a contract on money remittance [bank details], under which ALFA-Bank provides Sport-Expo with money remittance services (for salaries, social payments and other payments) in the currency of the Russian Federation for accounts of employees specified by Sport-Expo. The contact person at Sport-Expo for the salary project was Mrs. Y. G. Pushkarskaya She holds the position of General Director with Sport-Expo. 8. On 15 January 2014, a Client’s Questionnaire bearing the Claimant’s signature was submitted to ALFA-Bank in order to open a bank account in the name of the Claimant. For this purpose, ALFA-Bank was provided with Claimant’s passport and migration card. Subsequently, a bank account (with the status “salary account”) with the account [bank details] was opened in the name of the Claimant (hereinafter referred to as the Arbitral Award 3/54 (BAT 0660/15) “Salary Account”). 9. On 17 January 2014, the amount of RUB 100,880.55 was paid into the Salary Account (details: transfer of salary; grounds: [bank details]; payment order no 5 of 17 January 2014). 10. On 3 February 2014, another amount of RUB 147,900.00 was paid into the Salary Account (details: transfer of salary; grounds: [bank details]; payment order no 13 of 3 February 2014). 11. Subsequently, Claimant and the Club entered into an agreement (hereinafter referred to as “Agreement 2”) whereby the Club engaged Claimant as assistant coach and team manager for the 2014/2015 season. The Parties are in dispute as to when exactly Agreement 2 was concluded. Agreement 2 bears the date 24 February 2014. At the time Agreement 2 was signed Claimant was represented by Jump Start Agency, in particular by the FIBA-licensed agent Mr. Saulius Svetkauskas (hereinafter referred to as the “Agent” or “Claimant’s Agent”). 12. The main clauses in Agreement 2 provide as follows: Article I: Term and Assistant Coach Services “A. Term. The Club hereby engages the services of Assistant Coach one (1) season, the 2014-15 season. The term of this Agreement shall begin on August 15, 2014 and end on May 15, 2015, unless sooner terminated in accordance with other provisions herein. The Term may be prolonged by the mutual agreement of the Parties. […]. B. Assistant Coach Services. During the Term, Assistant Coach shall attend and perform his duties during (unless Assistant Coach is injured, ill, or Club otherwise excuses Assistant Coach from attendance) all practices and all regular season Club games as well as all exhibition, All-Star, playoff, tournament, European club competition, and Cup games scheduled by or entered into by the Club unless he is other opponents. Assistant Coach hereby agrees to and accepts the terms and conditions for said employment set out herein. The Coach shall perform those duties usual and customary for an assistant coach and undertake such other responsibilities as may be reasonably assigned by the Arbitral Award 4/54 (BAT 0660/15) Club. The Coach shall work under the immediate supervision of, and report directly to the Head Coach and shall confer with him on all matters requiring administrative decisions. […].” Article II: Compensation and Taxes “A. Compensation. The Club agrees to pay Assistant Coach the salary for season 2014/15 48,000USD (Fourty eight thousand) USD NET. B. Monthly compensation net of all taxes, fees, and other charges (the “Guaranteed Compensation”) for the 2014/15 season in the amount of USD 4,800. All salary to Assistant Coach shall be fully guaranteed, vested, and owed in full upon execution of this Agreement by the Assistant Coach and Club. Each of the payments must be paid to the coach on the following dates: 30 August 2014 4,800 USD 30 September 2014 4,800 USD 30 October 2014 4,800 USD 30 November 2014 4,800 USD 30 December 2014 4,800 USD 30 January 2014 4,800 USD 30 February 2014 4,800 USD 30 March 2014 4,800 USD 30 April 2014 4,800 USD 30 May 2014 4,800 USD B. Taxes. […] Said salaries are net amounts after the club has paid in USD to the bank account of the player. A delay in payment of more than 15 days will be regarded as a breach of the contract by the club. In this case the player is entitled to immediately go on strike and refuse to render his services to the club. If after 15 additional days the club still has not fulfilled all its financial commitments towards the player, the player will be free to leave, while the club has to pay all salaries mentioned above for the whole contracting period, and issue a letter of clearance. The contracting parties agree this solution is EX AEQUO ET BONO. […].” Arbitral Award 5/54 (BAT 0660/15) Article III: Additional Benefits “In addition to the compensation set forth above, Club agrees to provide, throughout each season of the Term of this Agreement, and at no cost to Assistant Coach, the following: B. Airplane Tickets. Club shall pay for the following airplane tickets from Assistant Coach’s residence or other Assistant Coach designated location during the season: 3 round-trip economy class airline tickets Lithuania to Russia.“ Article V: Contract Guarantee “A. Club agrees that this Agreement is an unconditionally guaranteed contractual Agreement and that Assistant Coach’s Compensation is fully guaranteed, due and payable, including but not limited to in the event of Assistant Coach’s illness. Club agrees to meet all payment obligations to Assistant Coach. […].” Article VIII: Special termination for Club and Assistant Scouting Coach for Material Breach “If the Club or Assistant Scouting Coach materially breaches any material term of this Agreement, and fails to cure such breach within fifteen (15) days after receiving notice of such breach from the non-breaching party, the non-breaching shall have the right to terminate this Agreement without further obligation. Failure to pay (15 days delay) shall constitute breach of entire contract. Assistant Scouting Coach is then free to depart and may sign with any other team worldwide with nothing whatsoever due to Club and Assistant Scouting Coach have to right to asking his money accordance with the applicable law and jurisdiction.” 13. It is undisputed that at the beginning of the season 2014/2015 the Claimant fully performed his duties under Agreement 2. 14. The following payments were made by the Respondent – in addition to the ones mentioned under paras. 9 and 10 above – to the Salary Account: 4 March 2014 RUB 147,900.00 [bank details] 28 March 2014 RUB 147,900.00 [bank details] Arbitral Award 6/54 (BAT 0660/15) 29 April 2014 RUB 147,900.00 [bank details] 20 May 2014 RUB 147,900.00 [bank details] 9 June 2014 RUB 147,900.00 [bank details] 3 July 2014 RUB 147,900.00 [bank details] 5 August 2014 RUB 147,900.00 [bank details] 22 September 2014 RUB 147,900.00 [bank details] 17 October 2014 RUB 147,900.00 [bank details] 15.