Vonnard, Philippe <br/><br/>
“Freedom for soccer players” 

 -  2023.<br/>							 
<br/><br/> 73 
<br/><br/> On June 15, 1976, the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland decided to dismiss the case of Servette de Genève, one of the leading Swiss football clubs at the time. In the summer of 1972, one of the players of the Geneva-based club, Georges Perroud—at the end of his contract at the time—accused Servette of preventing him from concluding an agreement with another elite club. The aim of this research is to study the stakes and the consequences of the “Perroud Affair” on elite-level soccer in Switzerland. In particular, it looks at the conditions that were favorable to transforming the conflict into legal proceedings and describes the latter’s significant consequences on the legalization of professionalism in sport.