Jurisdiction Disputes: When Can National Bodies Hear FIFA-Related Employment Claims?

In the field of football, employment-related disputes involving foreign players, coaches or other foreign-related factors usually fall under the jurisdiction of FIFA’s Football Tribunal such as the Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) or the Players’ Status Chamber (PSC). However, the parties often face difficulties such as language barriers, time costs and excessive monetary costs in the dispute resolution process.

As an alternative, FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (Regulations) stipulates that employment-related disputes involving foreign players, coaches or other foreign-related factors may be decided by a national dispute resolution body, provided that certain conditions are met. After reviewing the relevant FIFA cases, the authors found that the DRC and PSC have relatively stringent conditions to determine whether national dispute resolution bodies have jurisdiction. These conditions are primarily stipulated in FIFA Circular no.1010[1] and the FIFA National Dispute Resolution Chamber (NDRC) Standard Regulations. If the conditions are not strictly met, the jurisdiction of FIFA over such disputes cannot be excluded.

This article analyses three cases that the authors are aware of in which the DRC/PSC ruled that national dispute resolution chambers/bodies have jurisdiction over employment-related disputes involving foreign factors. The aim is to provide football clubs with clarity on the matter when signing jurisdictional clauses in the relevant contracts with foreign coaches or foreign players. It looks at:

• Relevant Rules Of FIFA
  • Article 22 of the Regulations
  • FIFA Circular No. 1010
  • NDRC Standard Regulations
• Cases
  • Deac Ioan Ciprian v. FC Aktobe
  • Badaliy Dago v. Neftçi PFK
  • Coach A v. Club C
• Analysis: What Happens If There Is A Jurisdiction Dispute?
• Tips For Clubs