CORPORATE GOVERNANCE OF SWISS SPORTS BODIES
Sports Bodies, established as Associations in Switzerland, enjoy a unique regulatory framework, with a high degree of autonomy in relation to how they govern themselves and their sports.
In fact, Swiss Association Law is based on the general principle of autonomy. This means that Sports Bodies in Switzerland are able to establish their own internal rules and regulations regarding the rights and the obligations of their members and the settlement of internal disputes.
This freedom has attracted more than 75 international sports bodies and federations to establish themselves and operate from Switzerland, many of them in Lausanne, in the Canton of Vaud, including the International Olympic Committee, and others in the Canton of Zurich, including FIFA.
According to Article 60 of the Swiss Civil Code (SCC), the overall purpose of a Swiss Association must be non-commercial, in other words, not-for-profit. However, commercial activities of a Swiss Association are legally permitted where they are conducted in order to provide the means to achieving the not-for-profit purpose.
However, such autonomy of Swiss Sports Bodies, under Article 75 of the SCC is ultimately subject to the general law of Switzerland and the Swiss Courts and independent and impartial Swiss Arbitral Bodies, such as the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). In fact, the internal rules and regulations of Swiss Sports Bodies cannot, in general, override the provisions of Article 75 of the SCC
However, the Swiss Courts, in order to protect the autonomy of sports bodies, have denied jurisdiction in disputes in cases of what have come to be known as the ‘Rules of the Game’ of the sports bodies concerned. That is, all the rules and regulations relating to the practice of their particular sports.
Thus, for example, Article 58.2 & .3 of the Statutes of FIFA on the question of disputes provides as follows:
“2. Recourse may only be made to CAS after all internal channels have been exhausted.
- CAS, however, does not deal with appeals arising from:
- a) violations of the Laws of the Game;
- b) suspensions of up to four matches or up to three months (with the exception of doping decisions);
- c) decisions against which an appeal to an independent and duly constituted arbitration tribunal recognised under the rules of an association or confederation may be made.”
We draft and advise on the Statutes and Rules and Regulations of Swiss International and National Sports Bodies and Federations, including disputes relating to them, and further information is available from Noemi Delli Colli or Lucien Valloni, by e-mailing them at ‘dellicolli@valloni.ch’ and ‘valloni@valloni.ch’ respectively.