Sports disciplinary lawyer
Defence before disciplinary committees, federations and sports tribunals
A disciplinary file moves fast. You receive a summons, and a few days later the case is heard by the disciplinary committee of your federation. The sanction hits the centre of your sporting or professional life: a suspension, a fine, a points deduction, the loss of a licence or of a position. We defend athletes, clubs, coaches and referees in these proceedings.
Sports discipline runs on the regulations of the federation. Those regulations set the deadlines, the standard of proof and the rights of the defence, and they differ sharply from ordinary court procedure. We act before the bodies of the Belgian federations, before the Belgian Court of Arbitration for Sport and before the Flemish Doping Tribunal. We also run international files ourselves, at FIFA, UEFA, the UCI and the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne.
What a sports disciplinary lawyer does for you
We take on the whole file, from the first letter of the federation to the decision on appeal.
Defence at the hearing
We draft the written defence, build the evidence file, bring witnesses and plead at the hearing. We also test whether the federation follows its own rules, because a procedural error often makes the decision void.
Doping and results management
We assist athletes after an adverse analytical finding: the request for the B sample, the provisional suspension, the file on the source of the substance and the hearing before the Flemish Doping Tribunal or the ONAD.
Match fixing and integrity
Cases about the manipulation of matches, betting or conflicts of interest often run alongside a criminal investigation. We manage that overlap, so a statement in the disciplinary file does not damage your position in the criminal one.
Appeal and sports arbitration
We lodge the appeal with the higher body of the federation, with the Belgian Court of Arbitration for Sport or with the CAS in Lausanne. Together we choose the route that offers the best prospect of review.
Provisional measures
A suspension that runs during the season can hurt more than the final sanction. We ask for the measure to be lifted or suspended, and where needed we go to the ordinary court in summary proceedings.
Regulations and disciplinary policy
For clubs and federations we write and revise disciplinary regulations, integrity policies and rules of procedure. We make sure the rights of the defence, the appeal deadlines and the powers of each body sit soundly in the statutes.
Reasoning and evidence
A disciplinary decision has to rest on facts that are proven and on a rule that already existed when the facts happened. We test whether the body followed its own procedure, whether you were heard, whether the file was complete and whether the sanction fits what happened. Where a match report, a video or a witness statement carries the case, we examine how that material was obtained. Many decisions fall on the procedure rather than on the substance.
How a disciplinary file runs
Who decides
At first instance the disciplinary body of the federation decides, for example the dispute committees of the Belgian football association. Above that sit the Belgian Court of Arbitration for Sport, the Flemish Doping Tribunal, and internationally FIFA, UEFA, the UCI and the CAS.
Deadlines
Count in days, not in weeks. Federation rules often allow five to ten days to appeal, and the CAS works with twenty one days. A statement of appeal filed late makes the sanction final, whatever the merits of the case.
What to do first
Keep the summons with the date you received it and sign nothing without advice. Collect match reports, messages, medical records and the contact details of witnesses. Call us before the hearing, because a postponement is rarely granted afterwards.
Sports we handle this domain in
Football ↗
Everest Sports Law is your football lawyer in Belgium for clubs
Cycling ↗
Everest Sports Law is your cycling lawyer in Belgium for riders
Athletics ↗
Everest Sports Law is your athletics lawyer in Belgium for selection, doping
Tennis ↗
A tennis lawyer in Belgium for players, coaches and organisers: contracts, prize
Judo ↗
A judo lawyer in Belgium for judoka, clubs and federations: selection, disciplinary
Swimming ↗
A swimming lawyer in Belgium for swimmers, clubs and federations: selection, doping