Procedural Rules Governing the Football Tribunal - Edition June 2022
The June 2022 edition of the Procedural Rules Governing the FIFA Football Tribunal, approved on 20 June 2022 and in force from that same date; it restricted the language of submissions to English, Spanish and French and, for the first time, expressly provided that submissions filed out of time have no effect.
| Approval | 20 June 2022 — Bureau of the FIFA Council |
| In force from | The same date as approval (immediately) |
| Structure | 34 articles + one annexe, in six chapters |
| Status | Superseded — replaced by the October 2022 edition |
What are the Procedural Rules Governing the FIFA Football Tribunal?
The Football Tribunal is the body that hears football-related disputes at FIFA level and is composed of three chambers: the Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) for contractual disputes and training rewards, the Players' Status Chamber (PSC) for regulatory applications, and the Agents Chamber (AC). This document lays down the procedural rules governing proceedings before all three chambers.
About the June 2022 editionChanges from October 2021
This is the second edition of the Procedural Rules Governing the Football Tribunal. Its text was approved on 20 June 2022 by the Bureau of the FIFA Council and, pursuant to article 34, entered into force immediately and from that same date — contrary to FIFA's usual practice of allowing an interval between approval and entry into force. The structure of the document, with 34 articles and one annexe, remained unchanged.
Principal changes from the October 2021 edition
- Restriction on the language of submissionsUnder the previous edition, submissions had to be filed "in one of the official FIFA languages", and a submission not in an official FIFA language was disregarded. The new text specifies that any submission filed with FIFA must be "in English, Spanish or French". This change narrowed the range of admissible languages relative to the list of official FIFA languages.
- Express sanction for delayA sentence was added providing that "submissions and evidence filed outside the relevant time limit shall be disregarded". No such express sanction existed in the previous edition.
- Criterion for calculating time limits for a represented partyIn the October 2021 edition, compliance with a time limit was assessed by reference to the domicile of the party itself, "even if the party has appointed a representative". The new text changed that criterion to the domicile of the party's principal legal representative (where one exists) — a point of direct practical effect for clients represented by foreign counsel.
- Time restriction on extension requestsFrom this edition onwards, a request to extend a time limit set by the FIFA general secretariat must be filed before the expiry of that time limit; no such qualification appeared in the previous text.
- Deputising for the chairmanship of the TribunalIt was specified that the chairperson of the Dispute Resolution Chamber or the chairperson of the Players' Status Chamber shall deputise for the chairperson of the Football Tribunal in the latter's absence.
Article 34 paragraph 2 of this edition also continued to make the entry into force of the provisions governing the Agents Chamber conditional on the approval of the FIFA Football Agent Regulations.
Structure of the document
The document comprises 34 articles in six sections: general provisions; general procedural rules (parties, notifications, time limits, submissions and evidence, hearings, notification of decisions, language and publication); specific rules for claims before the three chambers; specific rules on the solidarity mechanism and training rewards; regulatory applications before the Players' Status Chamber (including the international transfer of a minor player); and final provisions.
Who this document matters to
For counsel and parties whose cases were before the Football Tribunal between June and mid-November 2022, this document sets out the applicable procedural rules. The change in the criterion for calculating time limits to the domicile of the legal representative is among the points that become significant when examining procedural objections in cases from that period.