THE SETTLEMENT OF FOOTBALL DISPUTES IN FRANCE

In France, football-related disputes benefit from a comprehensive range of resolution mechanisms designed to ensure fairness, efficiency, and respect for the specificities of the sport.

Depending upon the nature of the dispute, it may be handled through internal disciplinary proceedings, resolved amicably via conciliation, settled through arbitration before the Sports Arbitration Chamber (SAC) in Paris, or, in certain cases, brought before the French civil and administrative courts.

Where the dispute has an international dimension, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, serves as the arbitral forum.

French sports federations, including the Ligue de Football Professionnel (LFP), are required to establish disciplinary rules and procedures to address violations of rules and regulations that comply with the fundamental guarantees of a fair trial, including the right to be heard. Alongside these internal processes, the French National Olympic and Sports Committee (CNOSF) offers a conciliation service, where a neutral conciliator helps the parties to find a mutually acceptable solution without resorting to adversarial proceedings.

The LFP Disciplinary Commission has jurisdiction over breaches of discipline committed by players, coaches, club officials, and other persons carrying out a permanent role within a professional club or within the LFP.

Its remit covers, in particular:

• assessing clubs’ responsibility for incidents or regulatory breaches occurring in stadiums before, during, or after matches;
• ruling on offences committed outside the match context but related to it, including serious harm to officials, individuals, or property;
• determining the outcome of a match permanently interrupted due to serious incidents; sanctioning any breach of the rules governing competitions organised by the LFP or of the Statutes and Regulations of the French football authorities;
• addressing violations of the Football Ethics Charter or acts seriously damaging to the honour, image, or reputation of football, the LFP, or its officials; and
• enforcing the rules on sports betting.

Sanctions may range from warnings and fines to suspensions, points deductions, or match forfeitures.

Decisions of the LFP Disciplinary Commission may be appealed before the Superior Appeals Commission of the French Football Federation (FFF), in accordance with the applicable disciplinary and procedural rules.

Under Article L.141-4 of the French Sports Code, the CNOSF has a statutory mission of conciliation in disputes involving licence-holders, sports agents, sports associations and companies, and recognised sports federations, excluding cases involving doping.

In doping matters, disciplinary authority lies with the French Anti-Doping Agency (AFLD), whose College is empowered to initiate and conduct proceedings pursuant to Article L.232-22 of the French Sports Code.

Pursuant to Articles R.141-5 et seq., conciliation before the CNOSF is a mandatory prerequisite to any legal action where the dispute results from a decision taken by a sports federation in the exercise of public authority or in application of its Statutes.

For instance, the Conseil d’État has held that decisions taken by the National Directorate for Management Control (DNCG) of the French Football Federation (FFF) are to be regarded as decisions of the FFF itself and, as such, are subject to the mandatory conciliation procedure before the CNOSF (CE, 22 June 2017, No. 398082).

The request for conciliation must be filed within 15 days of the contested decision’s notification or publication. The appointed conciliator must propose measures to the parties within one month, with the possibility of expedited treatment in urgent cases. If the request is lodged within the 15-day period, it suspends the time limit for initiating legal proceedings.

Late requests are treated as optional conciliation and do not preserve the right to bring the matter before a court.

Contractual disputes between clubs and players — including those concerning the duration or reciprocal obligations arising from an employment contract — fall within the jurisdiction of the LFP Legal Commission pursuant to Article 271 of the Professional Football Charter, which constitutes the National Collective Agreement for the Profession of Football.
Article 271 provides that all disputes between clubs and players, particularly those relating to the duration and reciprocal obligations of the contract, fall within the competence of the Legal Commission, which may also act on its own initiative in cases involving breaches of player status regulations.

However, the scope of this provision has been qualified by case law. Under Article L.222-2-3 of the French Sports Code, any contract by which a sports association or company engages the services of a professional athlete or coach for remuneration must be a fixed-term employment contract. Such contracts are subject to the public policy provisions of Article L.1243-1 of the French Labour Code, which strictly limit early termination to cases of mutual agreement, serious misconduct, force majeure, or medical unfitness.

The Cour de Cassation has ruled (Cass. soc., 29 Nov. 2023, no. 21-19.282) that Article 271 does not create a mandatory conciliation prerequisite before the Legal Commission where a player contests, before the Conseil de prud’hommes, the termination of his fixed-term contract. In that case, a club relegated to a lower division had sought to terminate the player’s contract under Article 761 of the Charter, following his refusal to accept a 50 % salary reduction. The Court held that such termination was unlawful, as none of the statutory grounds for early termination had been met. It further confirmed that the player was entitled to bring the matter directly before the French labour courts.

A distinctive feature of the French system is the compulsory arbitration mechanism for certain commercial disputes between French professional clubs. Article 223 of the Administrative Rules of the LFP (author’s translation) provides:

“Any commercial dispute between professional clubs arising from a permanent or temporary transfer agreement, where the amount exceeds €50,000 excluding taxes, shall be finally settled by the Sports Arbitration Chamber established within the French National Olympic and Sports Committee, in accordance with the conditions set forth in its Arbitration Rules. The admissibility of such legal proceedings is, however, subject to the prior referral of the matter to the LFP Legal Commission for its opinion”.

This provision applies only to transactions concluded between French professional clubs, excluding any agreements involving amateur or foreign clubs.

It is limited in scope to permanent or temporary transfer agreements — in practice, the transfers and loans of players — for amounts above €50,000 excluding VAT. Only disputes of a commercial nature are covered, typically relating to the payment of transfer fees.

Importantly, before arbitration can be initiated, the dispute must be referred to the LFP Legal Commission for a non-binding opinion intended to encourage amicable settlement. If no agreement is reached, the case is submitted to the SAC in accordance with its procedural rules. The arbitral award is final and binding, with only limited annulment proceedings possible before the Paris Court of Appeal, and possible review by the Cour de Cassation on points of law.

French civil and administrative courts also retain jurisdiction over certain sports-related disputes, particularly those involving the application or interpretation of sports federations’ by-laws and regulations, or where contractual and statutory provisions are alleged to conflict with mandatory labour law or public policy.

Disputes involving clubs from different national associations, particularly in relation to cross-border transfers and contractual matters, are handled by the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber. The Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne remains the ultimate arbitral authority for international football disputes, ensuring uniform application of the rules of the game at a global level.

Thus, whilst the French system offers multiple avenues for resolving football disputes, it remains a structured yet complex and fragmented framework in which jurisdiction depends upon the nature, scope, and value of the dispute. This complexity requires careful navigation to ensure that the appropriate forum and procedure are selected from the outset, as procedural missteps may result in delays or inadmissibility of claims. For French professional football clubs, Article 223 of the LFP Regulations represents a significant and binding commitment to arbitrate a broad category of transfer-related disputes before the SAC in Paris.

We act in football disputes in France and further information is available from the Head of our French Law Practice, Dr Estelle Ivanova, by emailing her at ivanova@valloni.ch.