Alan Cawley will go to the High court on Wednesday in an attempt to force the National League to accept his registration as a player without the need for his next club to pay UCD €20,000.

Under current regulations, Shelbourne would have to pay out if they wanted to keep the player because he is under 23.

Cawley recently had his contract with Shelbourne cancelled by Tolka Park officials when it became clear the club was going to have to pay compensation. A tribunal this week set the level of compensation at €20,000, and under the rules UCD are entitled to that figure from any club which the 22-year-old midfielder signs for during the coming season. At present he is not signed to anybody and is not receiving any wages.

The PFAI has expressed its outrage over the position the player finds himself in, and it was through the union that Cawley yesterday revealed he is to mount a legal challenge to the stand taken by the FAI and eircom League.

The player's initial aim will be to prevent the league refusing to register him until the required compensation has been paid to UCD. When the case is heard in its entirety, however, the Dubliner is expected to challenge the legality of the system itself, arguing that it is a restraint on trade and illegal under EU employment legislation.

"Wednesday will be important to Alan," said Fran Gavin of the PFAI yesterday, "but it is further down that this case could end up validating or invalidating the entire compensation system."

Previous challenges to the system, in Norway and Denmark, have related to breaches of collective agreements signed on behalf of players, but Cawley's is believed to be the first case in which a single player has sought to set the terms of the current structure set aside.

The case could potentially have far-reaching implications for football in Europe, as the present rules were agreed only two years ago after lengthy negotiations between FIFA, UEFA and the EU.