For an NBA player, a dispute with a team or the league is rarely just a legal problem. It can affect salary, contract guarantees, free agency, playing time, reputation, eligibility for awards, and potentially the value of the player’s next contract. The NBA’s 2023 Collective Bargaining Agreement (“CBA”) between the NBA and the National Basketball […]
Sports Arbitration
What’s In a Name? “Arbitration” and the NFL Commissioner’s Authority Under the FAA
Few areas of US law are as committed to enforcing private dispute resolution as the Federal Arbitration Act (“FAA”). Since its enactment in 1925, the FAA has required courts to treat written arbitration agreements as “valid, irrevocable, and enforceable,” and it has repeatedly been invoked to pre-empt state laws or judicial doctrines perceived as hostile […]
Provisional Measures in CAS Arbitration: IGF v. FIG
On 14 October 2025, according to a Media Release, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (“CAS”) issued two decisions rejecting requests for urgent provisional measures in two appeals filed by the Israeli Gymnastics Federation (“IGF”) and Israeli gymnasts against the International Gymnastics Federation (“FIG”) following a statement by the Indonesian government that it would not […]
Blowing the Whistle on CAS: The CJEU’s RFC Seraing v. FIFA Decision
On 1 August 2025, the Grand Chamber of the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”) issued a new decision in Case C-600/23, Royal Football Club Seraing SA v. FIFA, UEFA and URBSFA, in which it addressed a fundamental question: how far should EU courts go in reviewing arbitral awards handed down by the […]
A Procedural Guide to FIFA Dispute Resolution
Headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is the international governing body of association football,[1] with 211 affiliated associations across the globe.[2] Among its objectives are the regulation and governance of all aspects of the game of football,[3] which it facilitates through the FIFA Statutes (which serve as the organisation’s constitution), as […]
Arbitrations During the Paris Olympics
The Paris 2024 Olympics took place from 26 July to 11 August 2024 and were marked not only by remarkable athletic achievements but also by significant arbitration disputes. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and its temporary offices played a crucial role in resolving disputes during the Olympic games. The CAS carefully reviewed decisions […]
Sports Arbitration: Certain Unique Features and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (the “CAS”)
Sports arbitration can broadly be defined as a method of resolving sport-related disputes by a final and binding arbitral decision. Today, arbitration has been firmly established as the predominant method for resolution of sports disputes, mainly thanks to the uniform practice and abundant, publicly-available caselaw of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (the “CAS”), based […]
International Court of Arbitration
There are many Courts of Arbitration, but technically only one International Court of Arbitration, which refers to the ICC’s International Court of Arbitration. Somewhat confusingly for those unfamiliar with arbitration, Courts of Arbitration do not decide on the substance of disputes themselves, as this role is left to private arbitrators. We will briefly examine the […]
Palestine Threatens Sports Arbitration
The Palestinian Football Association (“PFA”) has threatened to go to the Court for Sports Arbitration (“CAS”) unless FIFA agrees to take action against Israel over clubs based in the “illegally occupied” territory of the West Bank. Our previous reporting on CAS, its role and jurisdiction can be found here. The dispute concerns six Israeli football […]
