Football·International Regulations·FIFA
FIFA Disciplinary Code 2017
The 2017 edition of the FIFA Disciplinary Code, approved on 9 May 2017 at the Manama meeting in Bahrain and in force with immediate effect; the first edition approved by the FIFA Council.
| Approval | 9 May 2017 — FIFA Council, Manama meeting (Bahrain) |
| In force from | Immediately |
| Structure | 147 articles |
| Status | Superseded — replaced by the 2019 edition |
What is the FIFA Disciplinary Code?
The FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC) defines disciplinary infringements in football, determines the corresponding sanctions, and governs 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 member associations; member associations are further required to bring their own disciplinary regulations into line with the principles of this document.
About the 2017 editionChanges from the 2011 edition
Pursuant to article 147, this document was approved by the FIFA Council at its meeting of 9 May 2017 in Manama, Bahrain and entered into force immediately. A significant structural point is that, for the first time in this family of instruments, the approving authority is the FIFA Council and not the Executive Committee — reflecting FIFA's governance reforms.
Principal changes from the previous edition
- Definition of "officials"An express definition was added: any person, other than players, who performs a football-related activity within an association or a club, irrespective of title, the type of activity (administrative, sporting or otherwise) and its duration.
- Extension of the competence of Disciplinary Committee members to decide sitting aloneThe heading of article 78 was extended from "Competence of the chairman to decide sitting alone" to "Competence of the chairman and members of the Disciplinary Committee to decide sitting alone".
- Rearrangement of the provisions on partial suspension and the combination of sanctionsThe articles on the partial suspension of the enforcement of a sanction, the combination of sanctions and the annulment of cautions were redrafted.
Who this document matters to
Clubs and associations involved in international disciplinary cases, players and coaches subject to suspensions, and sports lawyers pleading before the FIFA Disciplinary Committee and the FIFA Appeal Committee rely on the text of these regulations. In every 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; access to the text of earlier editions therefore has practical importance.