FIFA’s decisions can be challenged outside of Switzerland: European Court of Justice

The top court of the European Union ruled on Friday that the decisions of the administrative body of the World Football FIFA can be challenged outside of Switzerland, so that a system is opened that is currently binding athletes, officials and clubs to accept verdicts there.

A declaration from the European Court of Justice said that tribunals in the 27 EU member states «should be able to carry out an in-depth assessment of those prices for consistency with the fundamental rules of EU legislation.»

The ECJ ruling in Luxembourg means that the EU national courts must be able to revise judgments of the Swiss Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), involving other sports authorities. Switzerland is not a member of the European Union.

«The prices elaborated by the CAs must be susceptible to an effective judicial assessment,» said the statement. It said that «national courts or tribunals must be authorized to perform … a profound judicial assessment» to ensure that CAS statements are «consistent with the public policy of the EU.»

There was no immediate comment from FIFA or Cas.

The decision could end a decade of legal fight by the Belgian football club RFC Seraing and Maltese investment fund Doyen Sports.

They oppose the FIFA rules that prohibit the ownership of third parties of the registration and transfer rights of a player, and asked a commercial court in Brussels in 2015 to assess whether those rules have violated EU legislation.

The ECJ did not specifically ruled on external property as such, only the scope of CAS decisions.

«From a quick reading of the decision, it is clear that this is a complete victory for our clients and for the rule of law in the EU,» Seraing’s lawyer, Jean-Louis Dupont, told The Associated Press.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport was founded in 1984 to give sport a uniform and binding legal forum for arranging disputes and appeals in the home town of Lausanne of the International Olympic Committee, Switzerland. It is the mandatory path for athletes to challenge the disciplinary and professional ruling by Olympic Sports Federations. It rules for things in dozens of sport and is an important authority in doping cases.

Also read-LA Liga 2025-26: Real Madrid’s request to postpone to be deferred more openly, says Report, says Report

Football is by far the largest customer in the Caseload of around 950 registered every year. The contribution of the FIFA of 2.5 million Swiss Frank (USD 2.75 million) to CAS was more than 10 percent of the turnover of the court that year in 2023.

CAS judgments can be challenged at the Supreme Court of Switzerland in Lausanne on limited procedural grounds and are rarely destroyed. Seraing and Doyen lost in the Swiss Federal Tribunal in 2018.

The ECJ said that every CAS decision that binds other courts or grandstands to act «are contrary to EU legislation.»

The ruling marks a new legal blow to the authority of sports organizations in Switzerland.

The same European court in Luxembourg has negotiated two other important judgments under the EU commissioning legislation in the Super League case and the dispute of Lassana Diarra transfer in the past two years that the authority of football organizations FIFA and UEFA challenged.