The FIFA Football Tribunal: chambers, deadlines and procedure

A salary unpaid abroad, an agent's fee never paid, a club disputing training compensation: when a football dispute crosses a border, it often ends up before FIFA's Football Tribunal. Three chambers, tight deadlines, an almost entirely written procedure. Here is the text explained, article by article, with the January 2027 edition.

What the Football Tribunal is

The Football Tribunal settles disputes between football stakeholders. Its rules fit in one short, technical text, the Procedural Rules Governing the Football Tribunal. The January 2027 edition was adopted by the Bureau of the FIFA Council on 10 June 2026 and comes into force on 1 January 2027 (art. 35); the January 2026 study materials contained the January 2026 edition.

The rules do not work alone. Each chamber's jurisdiction comes from other FIFA regulations: the RSTP (art. 22 and 23) and the Football Agent Regulations (art. 20). Appeals go to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) under article 50 of the FIFA Statutes. The Tribunal applies FIFA's regulations first, then Swiss law (art. 3).

Three chambers, three playing fields

Members are appointed by the FIFA Council for four years (art. 4). The DRC has a chairperson, at least two deputy chairpersons, at least 15 player representatives and at least 15 club representatives (art. 4.3). A judge's nationality alone is not a reason to doubt his impartiality, and a challenge must be filed within five calendar days of the notification of the chamber's composition (art. 5).

Who can act, and until when

Parties can be member associations, clubs, players, coaches, and agents and match agents licensed by FIFA (art. 9). The Tribunal does not hear a case if more than two years have passed since the event giving rise to the dispute, and this is checked ex officio (RSTP art. 23.3; agent regulations art. 20.1 c). A dispute between an agent and a client without an international dimension goes to the national body instead (agent regulations art. 20.3).

When a decision orders a payment, the debtor has 45 days to pay. After that, a club faces a registration ban of up to three entire and consecutive registration periods, a player a restriction on playing official matches of up to six months (RSTP art. 24). From 2027, the Tribunal also awards standard late-payment interest of 8% a year, on valid request (RSTP art. 23.5).

Communications and time limits: where points are lost

Everything goes through FIFA's Legal Portal or TMS, which parties must check at least once a day (art. 10.1 and 10.3). Then come the counting rules, favourite ground for exam traps:

• Direct receipt: the time limit starts the day after receipt (art. 11.1).
• Receipt via the member association: it starts four calendar days after the association receives it, or on the date the association notifies the party, whichever is sooner (art. 11.2).
• Holiday: if the last day is a public holiday or non-working day where the party is domiciled, the limit moves to the next working day (art. 11.3).
• Winter pause: time limits are paused from 20 December to 5 January inclusive (art. 11.5).
• Extensions: never for time limits fixed by the Rules; possible, on substantiated request before expiry, for those set by the general secretariat (art. 11.6).

From claim to decision

1. The claim is filed via the Legal Portal with the facts, the legal arguments, the evidence and the requests for relief (art. 18). Submissions are made in English, Spanish or French (art. 13.1), and whoever asserts a fact must prove it (art. 13.5).
2. Preliminary check: the general secretariat looks for an obvious lack of jurisdiction, or a claim obviously time-barred or inadmissible (art. 19).
3. Proposal: in simple cases, the general secretariat can propose a solution; a party that does not respond is deemed to have accepted it (art. 20).
4. Who decides: at the DRC, a single judge below USD 200,000, at least three judges from USD 200,000 or for complex matters; at the PSC and the AC, a single judge as a rule (art. 24). Mediation, voluntary and free, can be proposed (art. 26).
5. Grounds and CAS: decisions take effect on notification (art. 15.3), usually with the operative part only. A party has ten calendar days to request the grounds, or the decision becomes final and the right to appeal is waived (art. 15.5). CAS is then seized within 21 days (art. 50 of the FIFA Statutes).

Costs: free for agents

Proceedings are free of charge when at least one party is a player, a coach, a football agent or a match agent (art. 25.1). In other disputes, typically club against club, costs are ordered at the end of the case according to annexe 1, up to USD 25,000 for disputes of USD 200,000 or more. An advance of costs is only due before the PSC, except for regulatory applications (art. 25.3).

What an agent should remember

Three reflexes: an international dispute with a client goes to the Agents Chamber, free of charge, within two years; the Legal Portal is checked every day; without a request for the grounds within ten days, the door to CAS closes. The disciplinary side of unpaid decisions is in The FIFA Disciplinary Code explained for future agents, and the framework of the job in How to become a FIFA football agent.

Sources

• Procedural Rules Governing the Football Tribunal, January 2027 edition (PDF)
• Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, January 2027 edition (PDF)
• FIFA Football Agent Regulations (PDF)
• FIFA, Football Tribunal

Frequently asked questions