EU court delivers an unprecedented ruling affecting football law

FIFA has long frowned upon football stakeholders taking their disputes to ordinary courts, insisting that all matters be resolved within football's own governing bodies. But civil courts are growing increasingly dissatisfied with this arrangement, potentially paving the way for radical change.

Details: According to Reuters, the European Union Court of Justice has ruled that national courts in EU countries must be able to review decisions made by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne for compliance with EU law.

This landmark decision comes in the wake of an incident involving Belgian club Seraing, which was sanctioned by FIFA in 2015 for transferring a portion of players' economic rights to a third party—Maltese company Doyen Sports.

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The sanctions were upheld by CAS and the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. The club challenged the ruling in a Belgian court, questioning whether FIFA’s regulations complied with EU law. The EU court sided with the club.

The court pointed out that in Seraing’s case, FIFA required the club to appeal exclusively to CAS, without offering any choice in how to resolve the dispute—a practice widespread in sports arbitration. This, the court found, is inconsistent with EU law.

For reference: At present, all CAS decisions can be appealed to the Swiss Federal Supreme Court, but only about 6% of rulings are contested each year.