Football·International Regulations·FIFA
FIFA Disciplinary Code 2009
- In force from
- 2009/01/01
The 2009 edition of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, approved on 20 December 2008 and in force from 1 January 2009; the heading "Racism" was changed to "Discrimination" and the number of articles was reduced to 146.
| Approval | 20 December 2008 — FIFA Executive Committee |
| In force from | 1 January 2009 |
| Structure | 146 articles |
| Status | Repealed — superseded by the 2011 edition |
What is the FIFA Disciplinary Code?
The FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC) defines disciplinary infringements in football, determines the corresponding sanctions, and regulates the organisation and jurisdiction of FIFA's judicial bodies and the procedure before them. Its scope covers FIFA matches and competitions as well as infringements that do not fall within the jurisdiction of the confederations or the national associations; national associations are also required to bring their own disciplinary regulations into line with the principles of this document.
About the 2009 editionChanges from the 2008 edition
Pursuant to article 146, this edition was approved by the FIFA Executive Committee on 20 December 2008 and entered into force on 1 January 2009. The number of articles was reduced from 153 to 146.
Key changes from the previous edition
- Extension of "Racism" to "Discrimination"The section heading was changed from "Offensive and racist behaviour" to "Offensive and discriminatory behaviour", and the heading of article 58 from "Racism" to "Discrimination" — an extension that took the scope of protection beyond race.
- Introduction of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) as a separate sectionA section entitled "Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)" was inserted into the structure of the Code.
- Addition of "decisions without grounds"An article entitled "Decisions without grounds" was added to the section on decision-making.
- Rearrangement of the articles on the judicial bodiesThe section "Common rules of the judicial bodies" was moved from articles 88 et seq. to articles 81 et seq., and the section "Official languages" became the first article of the final section (article 143).
- Express exclusion of application to doping infringementsIt was added to one of the general articles that in cases of anti-doping rule violations, that article does not apply.
Who this document matters to
Clubs and associations involved in international disciplinary cases, players and coaches subject to suspension, and sports lawyers pleading before the FIFA Disciplinary Committee and Appeal Committee rely on the text of this Code. In any case, the applicable edition is the one in force at the time the infringement was committed — unless a later edition provides for a lighter sanction; for that reason, access to the text of earlier editions is of practical importance.