A new dawn in affordable access to international football justice

In the 1980s, there was a sharp increase in international sports disputes yet there was no proper body to handle such disputes within the sports realm as ordinary courts have always been adjudged unsuitable to effectively handle sports matters.

This prompted the ingenuity of the then International Olympic Committee President (IOC), Jan Antonio Samaranch to coin the idea of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in 1981. The idea was officially adopted by the IOC in 1983 thus making CAS operational.

A strong majority of the cases handled at CAS since its inception have been, and continue to be football matters. Thus, the major bottlenecks in accessing justice through CAS substantially maim the effectiveness of dispute resolution in the football world.

One of the irritants are the costs involved in settling disputes through CAS. Though cheaper than other international arbitration institution such as the International Chamber of Commerce, the costs of handling a case at CAS is still very high, especially from a least developed country’s point of view, a cluster in which many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa fall.

The administrative costs for filling a case at CAS may go as high as between Shs100m and Shs200m, the arbitrator fees may be as high as Shs2 million per hour (for one arbitrator yet some cases may require three arbitrators). These costs are without legal fees and miscellaneous costs such as flights and hotels to Lausanne. As an example, these costs forced Proline FC to abandon its appeal against Fufa back in 2019 when it was asked to pay fees for both the club and the respondent, Fufa.

In March 2001, Fifa and Uefa reached an agreement in principle with the European Commission to provide an appropriate dispute resolution system inside the football structures. A move that would later be consequential, globally.

Currently, Fifa has two major dispute resolution centres. Firstly, the Judicial Bodies that are established under Article 50 of the Fifa Statutes. These are comprised of; the Fifa Disciplinary Committee which handles matters arising from the Fifa Disciplinary Code; The Ethics Committee governed by the Fifa Ethics Code and the Appeal Committee which handles appeals from the two described bodies. The other legal body is the Football Tribunal which is comprised of the Dispute Resolution Chambers, the Players’ Status Chamber and the Agents Chamber.

All these bodies are currently accessible through the newly launched Fifa Legal Portal. All that is required for a club, player, agent or any other person with a football grievance, is to get in touch with a legal representative with an account verified after prior approval by the Fifa Secretariate.

Using this avenue, KCCA FC secured a Fifa ruling against the Lusaka Dynamos within 16 days having spent zero shillings in administrative and arbitrator fees. Fifa imposed an immediate ban on the Zambian outfit stopping the club or its sports successors from making any local or international transfer before paying the money owed to the Kasasiro Boys.

With the Sports Bill sent back to Parliament, several individuals and clubs continue to shy away from seeking sports justice out of Uganda due to the heavy costs that were previously required. The good news is that with the new Fifa legal Portal, the football world has a window to access international sports justice with little or no fees payable.

KCCA’s win should be a wake-up call for all persons or clubs who are still within Fifa’s stipulated timelines to seek justice cheaply and effectively.

Mr Timothy Kajja is a sports lawyer and licensed FIFA agent. [email protected]