Anyone who has a dispute with FIFA has not yet had many ways to defend themselves against it. Only the sports court in Switzerland was able to intervene. The ECJ saw it differently now.
The Belgian Football Club RFC Seraing came in a fight with the FIFA World Football Association. Because in 2015 he had ceded part of his players’ economic rights to a Maltese society. Lauf FIFA statutes was prohibited – the World Association punished the Belgian club.
A Belgian football club fights through all instances
The club went against the punishment of the FIFA, he turned to the International Sports Court CAS based in Switzerland. He is mandatory in the event of a dispute with FIFA. And he also decides – only Swiss courts can check the CAS decisions again. However, only to a very limited extent: The Swiss courts are no longer allowed to do the content of the CAS.
The Belgian football club failed in front of the CAS, the punishment of the FIFA was confirmed. The Swiss Federal Supreme Court also confirmed the decision – and with that the legal options would actually have been exhausted. The Belgian club did not give up and pulled in front of the Belgian dishes. However, they saw themselves prevented by Belgian law to decide on the matter. The decision of the CAS was concluded and binding from the Belgian dishes.
ECJ with clear words
The European Court of Justice (ECJ) saw it differently today: At least whether such international decisions of arbitration courts are compatible with the basic provisions on public order in the EU should also be able to review courts from the EU countries. And in case of doubt the ECJ. Therefore, the courts in the EU countries should ignore guidelines that prohibit them from checking them. Such an exclusion is not compatible with EU law.
This also applies because the large sports associations, such as FIFA, could usually impose such arbitration agreements on one side with their power. In its judgment, the ECJ finds a clear word: it cannot be, according to the court, “That individuals are” – here the FIFA – “By claiming an arbitration proceedings over the principles and provisions of the Union’s primary or secondary law“.
A good day for athletes
For athletes and associations in the EU, this means that in the future you can at least request a basic review of a CAS judgment before the national courts. As “A good day for everyone involved in sports ” The sports law expert Professor Jan Orth therefore evaluated the current decision of the ECJ. The decision also has an impact on similar cases, for example the case of the German speed skater Claudia Pechstein. As long as claims are not yet time -barred, national dishes can now look at the decisions of the CAS.
According to Professor Orth, what will change: The CAS has to move – in a Member State of the EU. Because then a court of a European state would automatically check its decisions and no longer just a Swiss court. And the ECJ would also be responsible in this way. A possible new address for the CAS is already in the room: Dublin, Ireland.