You receive a letter from your federation. It states that your case is going to arbitration, not to court. What does that mean? This article explains what arbitration in sport is, where the arbitration clause is found, who decides, and what you do once you receive a summons.
What is arbitration?
Arbitration is a private way of resolving a dispute. Two parties submit their dispute to one or more arbitrators, instead of to a state judge. The arbitrators issue a binding decision, the arbitral award.
In football, arbitration usually means the referee on the pitch. In a legal file, the word means the resolution of a dispute by arbitrators. This page is about that second meaning.
Belgian law regulates arbitration in articles 1676 to 1723 of the Judicial Code. Article 1717 lists the grounds on which the court of first instance may set aside an arbitral award: a defective statement of reasons and conflict with public policy are on that list.
How does arbitration differ from a court and from disciplinary proceedings?
A court derives its authority from the law, an arbitrator from the agreement of the parties. A disciplinary body derives its authority from the rules of the sports organisation, and it penalises a breach of the rules of conduct. There is no ordinary appeal against an arbitral award.
Disciplinary proceedings concern a sanction: a suspension or a fine. Arbitration concerns a dispute between two parties, for example about a contract, a transfer or a licence. In Belgium these tracks overlap. The Belgian Court of Arbitration for Sport (BAS) rules as an arbitrator, and it also hears appeals against disciplinary decisions of federations. You can read more about this on our page on disciplinary law.
What does an arbitration clause contain?
An arbitration clause, also called an arbitral clause, is the agreement that a dispute goes to arbitration. The clause states which body has jurisdiction and which rules it applies. Without such a clause, there is no arbitration.
An athlete encounters the clause in three places:
- In the articles of association and rules of the federation. Anyone who becomes a member of an affiliated club is bound by those rules.
- In the player contract or the coach contract. This often refers to the rules of the national federation or the international federation.
- In the licence file. Licence regulations designate their own committee, followed by an appeal to an arbitration body.
Read these three texts together. If they contradict each other on which body has jurisdiction, it is better to resolve that beforehand.
Must you consent to arbitration voluntarily?
Yes. The consent of the parties is legally decisive, because arbitration is an exception to the right of access to a court. Without valid consent, there is no valid arbitration.
This is where the difficulty lies in sport. An athlete rarely negotiates an arbitration clause. He accepts it upon joining a federation, because otherwise he cannot play. The European Court of Human Rights established this in the case of Mutu and Pechstein v. Switzerland of 2 October 2018. The Court held that the consent of speed skater Pechstein was not free, and that the proceedings before the CAS must therefore offer the guarantees of a fair trial. In doping cases, this includes a public hearing, if a party requests one.
The Court of Justice of the European Union went further on 1 August 2025 in the RFC Seraing case (C-600/23). A decision of the CAS must be open, within the Union, to genuine judicial review against European law.
The Belgian legislator protects consent on two points. Article 9 of the Act of 24 February 1978 prohibits a club and a paid athlete from agreeing in advance to submit a dispute over the performance of their employment contract to arbitration. For non-professional athletes, article 7 of the Flemish decree on their status provides that an arbitration agreement concluded before the dispute is void.
Which bodies decide on sports disputes?
First, the committee of your own federation rules. After that, a body outside the federation becomes involved. Which one depends on your sport and your case.
- BAS, the Belgian Court of Arbitration for Sport. It deals with disputes between federations, clubs and athletes, and also appeals against disciplinary decisions. A panel comprises three arbitrators and the decision is rendered at last instance.
- CAS, the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, established in 1984. The appeals division hears appeals against decisions of international federations.
- FIFA Football Tribunal, active since 1 October 2021, with three chambers: the Dispute Resolution Chamber, the Players’ Status Chamber and the Agents Chamber. They rule on contracts, training compensation and agent files.
- Flemish Sports Tribunal (Vlaams Sporttribunaal), with a doping chamber and a chamber for cross-border misconduct. It is the successor to the Flemish Doping Tribunal. The doping controls themselves are carried out through NADO Vlaanderen.
On our page on arbitration and dispute resolution you can read how we conduct these proceedings.
What do you do if you receive a summons?
Note the date of receipt, look up the time limit in the rules, and sign nothing before taking advice. Time limits in sport are counted in days, not weeks. They run from notification of the decision.
- Keep the letter or the email, with the date of receipt.
- Check the rules to see which body has jurisdiction and which time limit applies. If your federation’s rules say nothing, a time limit of thirty days after notice of the decision applies at the BAS.
- Check whether the appeal suspends the sanction. If the suspension continues to run, you may also need to request an urgent measure.
- Gather your documents: match reports, contracts, emails, medical documents and the names of witnesses.
- Contact a lawyer before you respond. A late appeal makes the decision final.
At the CAS, the appeal period is generally twenty-one days. The FIFA Football Tribunal generally no longer deals with a case once more than two years have passed since the event giving rise to the dispute.
When is arbitration an advantage, and when is it not?
Arbitration helps you when you need a quick decision from someone who knows the sport. A selection dispute that is only resolved after two years no longer serves any purpose. The proceedings remain private, and the same rules receive the same interpretation everywhere.
Arbitration works against you when you did not choose the body yourself, when the costs are high relative to the stakes of your case, or when you want a full right of appeal. Check the costs arrangement in the rules before you initiate proceedings. You can read what we do in sports law on our overview page.
Further questions? Do not hesitate to contact us on 09/334.94.70, via the contact form or via sport@everest-law.be.