GLOBAL EUROPEAN AND NATIONAL FOOTBALL REGULATION
Football is the world’s favourite sport and, as such, the need for regulation for the benefit of the beautiful game and its players and fans is self-evident.
In fact, in the United Kingdom, there are legislative proposals for the establishment of an independent Football Regulator to oversee the game, not least for the benefit of fans and give them a voice in its governance.
The football governing bodies themselves have developed Regulations at the Global, European and National levels.
In particular, disciplinary regulations and judicial bodies to apply and enforce them have been established.
Globally
At the global level, FIFA, under Article 52 of its Statutes, has set up the Disciplinary, Appeal and Ethics Committees, to deal with a wide range of matters, such as breaches of competition regulations, protection of minors, third-party ownership, match-fixing and doping, for the benefit of member associations, clubs, players and other stakeholders.
The FIFA Disciplinary Committee is actively engaged in enforcing the regulations on disciplinary matters and issuing sanctions for breaches of them, many of them through the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC), which is particularly involved in cases arising under the Regulation on the Status and Transfer of Players, especially on disputes relating to training compensation and solidarity contributions in football transfers’ cases.
Decisions issued by the DRC are appealable to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The Ethics Committee investigates, through its Investigatory Chamber, and, through its Adjudicatory Chamber, issues the corresponding decisions regarding such matters as bribery and corruption, abuses of positions and conflicts of interests. For example, on 21 December 2015, the FIFA Ethics Committee banned former FIFA President, Sepp Blatter, and former UEFA President, Michel Platini, for 8 years from all football-related activity organised by FIFA, after being found guilty of a US$ 2 million (around Sw. Frs. 1.74 million) “disloyal payment” made to Platini in 2011.
The FIFA Appeal Committee deals with appeals against decisions rendered by the Disciplinary and Ethics Committees.
Again, in general, such decisions are appealable to CAS.
European Level
At the European level, UEFA has established the Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body (CEDB) and the Appeals Body, both bodies being referred to in Article 32 of the UEFA Statutes, as its “organs for the administration of justice”.
In addition to these bodies are the Ethics and Disciplinary Inspectors and the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB). The CFCB deals with alleged breaches of the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Sustainability Regulations of 1 June 2024. These Regulations aim, respectively, to promote and continuously improve the standard of football in Europe and to promote more discipline and rationality in the finances of European football clubs and are very technical.
The CEDB mainly issues decisions relating to alleged breaches of UEFA competition rules, which can result in fines on clubs and national associations involved in such breaches.
The UEFA Appeals Body hears appeals against decisions of the CEDB in accordance with the UEFA Disciplinary Regulations. However, the UEFA Appeals Body cannot hear appeals against decisions of the CFCB, which go directly to CAS.
Such cases, as mentioned, are quite complex. See a recent appeal decision in the case of CAS/2024/A/10310 FC Barcelona v UEFA, dated 18 September 2024 (https://www.tas-cas.org/en/jurisprudence/recent-decisions.html).
National Level
National Football Associations have their own Disciplinary Regulations dealing with corruption, match-fixing and other kinds of misconduct, which harm the integrity of their matches and competitions.
In Switzerland, the Swiss Football Association Disciplinary Regulations contain the following provision:
Article 13bis Integrity of matches and competitions
1.The natural and legal persons implied in these disciplinary regulations shall refrain from any behaviour that damages or has the potential to damage the integrity of matches and competitions organised by the SFA, the departments or the regional associations. They shall also at all times cooperate in full with the SFA, the departments and the regional organisations in their endeavours to stamp out behaviour of this nature and to uncover it and impose sanctions should the need arise.
2.A violation of this provision is deemed to have been committed by anyone who:
a) acts in a manner contrary to the SFV statutes, with the intention to influence the course and/or the outcome of a match or competition in order to procure an undue advantage for himself or a third party;
b) directly or indirectly takes part in betting or similar activities relating to competition matches of the SFA, the departments and the regional associations or directly or indirectly fosters financial interest in such activities;
c) exploits or passes on unknown information in public, to which he has access through his role in football which damages or has the potential to damage the integrity of matches or competitions organised by the SFA, the departments and the regional associations;
d) does not immediately and voluntarily inform the relevant organisation (SFV, department, regional association) that he was contacted with the intention of involving him in activities aimed at influencing the course or the outcome of a match or a competition.
e) does not immediately and voluntarily inform the relevant organisation (SFV, department, regional association) of conduct within the meaning of this provision, of which he becomes aware.
Further Information and Advice
For further information about our professional advisory services and legal representation in football disciplinary cases and sports regulatory matters, please email Dr Lucien Valloni at ‘valloni@valloni.ch’.