CAS & Football Annual Report 2024

FEBRUARY 2025 Contents Foreword4 Overview5 02 Total Number of Appeals8 2.1Overall appeals92.2Appeals where FIFA is Not a Party and FIFA’s exclusion112.3Appeals where FIFA is a Party122.4Appeals by FIFA body13 03 CAS Hearings in 202415 04 CAS Awards involving FIFA received in 202417 4.1Introduction184.2Outcome of the Awards on the Merits20 05 Length of CAS proceedings21 5.1Introduction225.2Average duration of the cases (awards) received in 2024225.3Average duration of the cases with/without hearing23 06 24 CAS Global Football Statistics 6.1Introduction256.2Evolution of the global CAS caseload256.3Football-related cases handled by CAS266.4Type of procedure276.5Source of the appealed decisions286.6Subject of the appealed decisions296.7Language30 07 FIFA cases during the Olympic games31 7.1Introduction327.2Summary of the cases32 08 Leading cases in 2024 in appeals against FIFA decisions39 8.1Introduction408.2Football Tribunal418.3Judicial Bodies998.4Other FIFA bodies1208.5Orders on provisional measures123 09 Swiss Federal Tribunal125 9.1Introduction1269.2Appeals filed against CAS awards involving FIFA1269.3Decisions rendered in 2024 in appeals against CAS football decisions127 10 Arbitrators appointed in 2024130 10.1Composition of the Panels in 202413110.2Appointments in 2024132 11 Report on the Football Legal Aid Fund133 11.1Introduction13411.2Requests and granted legal aid134 12 Publication of CAS Awards136 13 Final Remarks138 Foreword Dear readers, We are pleased to present the 3rdedition of the CAS & Football Annual Report,covering the period from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024. Continuing the trend of its first two editions, the CAS & Football Annual Report 2024outlines FIFA’s workload regarding appeals submitted against its decisions beforethe Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), as well as providing a general overview offootball’s involvement in arbitration before CAS during the last year. The purpose of this document remains to highlight the key activities and statistics ofthe FIFA Legal & Compliance Division for 2024, particularly in relation to CAS appeals.It aims to provide stakeholders and legal practitioners with a comprehensive overviewof the most important CAS jurisprudence from this period and to transparentlyaddress other relevant issues concerning FIFA, football, and CAS. This Report highlights that, following a significant year for CAS litigation in 2023,the last year has seen a notable decrease in the number of appeals against FIFAdecisions, as well as in the cases in which FIFA has been involved as a party.Nevertheless, the number of CAS proceedings in these circumstances remainssubstantial, consistent with the activity of the FIFA Legal & Compliance Divisionthroughout the year. In addition, the year 2024 has produced a similarly large number of awards thathave been notified to FIFA. As always, this report provides summaries of the mostsignificant of these CAS awards related to appeals made against FIFA decisions. We trust that this summary of the main activities of the FIFA Legal & ComplianceDivision throughout the year will be a useful resource for stakeholders and legalpractitioners involved in CAS proceedings. Yours faithfully, Emilio García Silvero Miguel Liétard Fernández-PalaciosDirector of Litigation FIFA Chief Legal & Compliance Officer Overview01 Overview Article 49 of the FIFA Statutes (ed. 2024) recognizes the jurisdiction of Court ofArbitration for Sport (CAS) to handle appeals against final decisions issued by thedifferent bodies of FIFA. The decisions of the different FIFA bodies on several topics are continuously appealedand, therefore, continually reviewed by CAS. The FIFA Legal & Compliance Divisionplays a crucial role by serving as the primary point of contact between FIFA andCAS. Specifically, the Litigation department handles all appeals submitted to CASregarding FIFA’s decisions. TheCAS & Football Report 2024offers a comprehensive overview of the CASappeals against FIFA decisions and other significant issues related to CAS for theperiod from 1 January 2024 to 31 December 2024. In 2024, CAS notified 326 appeals to FIFA, which had been filed against thelatter’sdecisions. Naturally, FIFA did not have a legal interest in the majority of these disputes, especiallythose originating from the FIFA Football Tribunal, as they did not involve FIFA’sprerogatives or disciplinary powers. This meant that FIFA had nothing directly atstake in these cases. Consequently, as in previous editions, these appeals can becategorized into three types: (i) cases in which FIFA was not involved as a party,(ii)cases where FIFA (successfully) requested to be excluded from the proceedings,and (iii) cases in which FIFA was a party. This document also provides a detailed overview of the outcomes of cases involvingFIFA, focusing on the awards received during the period under scrutiny. A total of139 CAS awards/orders in which FIFA was a party