Sports Law in Turkey: Constitutional Court Decisions Annulling Provisions of the Sports Clubs Law and the TFF Law

Sports law combines the internal organisation of clubs and federations, which are private-law legal entities, with the state's regulatory role in sports services. Two norm-review decisions of the Constitutional Court dated 17 June 2025 annulled provisions of two separate laws in this field. This article examines the annulled rules, their effective dates and the current framework of mandatory arbitration.

1. The mandatory arbitration system: current framework

Under Article 59(3) of the Constitution, decisions of sports federations on the management and discipline of sporting activities can be challenged only through mandatory arbitration; decisions of the arbitration board are final and no judicial authority may be applied to against them. For the Turkish Football Federation (TFF), this framework is set out in Article 6 of Law No. 5894:

• The TFF Arbitration Board is an independent and impartial mandatory arbitration body and the highest legal board of the TFF.
• The time limit for applying to the Arbitration Board is seven days, running from publication of a TFF instruction on its website for challenges to instructions, and from notification for challenges to decisions.
• Decisions of the Arbitration Board concerning the management and discipline of football activities are final. Annulment actions may be filed against its other decisions within one month of notification under CCP Art. 439.

For athletes, clubs, coaches and others concerned, missing the seven-day period will in most cases mean a loss of rights.

2. The TFF's power to protect broadcasting rights was annulled (Constitutional Court, E.2024/75, K.2025/134)

Additional Article 1, added to Law No. 5894 by Law No. 7346, gave the TFF Board of Directors the power to order the blocking of access to a broadcast, or if necessary an entire website, where football matches were unlawfully made available online. Objection could be made to the criminal judgeship of peace within one week.

By its decision of 17.06.2025, the Constitutional Court annulled the first paragraph of the article by majority and the remainder under Article 43(4) of Law No. 6216. Four members dissented. As understood from the dissenting opinion, the majority annulled the rule because it restricted freedom of expression and did not meet the requirement of legality in Article 13 of the Constitution. The decision was published in the Official Gazette of 14 October 2025 and the annulment was set to take effect nine months after publication, which is 14 July 2026. In the consolidated text, Additional Article 1 now appears as annulled.

The practical meaning is that the TFF's own power to order access blocking has been removed. Other legal avenues against unlawful broadcasts (intellectual property actions, applications under Law No. 5651 and general provisions) remain available.

3. Provisions annulled in Law No. 7405 (Constitutional Court, E.2022/85, K.2025/131)

Members of parliament filed an annulment action against provisions of Law No. 7405 on Sports Clubs and Sports Federations of 22.04.2022. By its decision of 17.06.2025, the Constitutional Court annulled the following provisions. The decision was published in the Official Gazette of 2 April 2026, and the annulments were set to take effect nine months after publication, i.e. on 2 January 2027:

• Art. 3/4: The phrase "and acquires legal personality with this registration" where a sports club is registered by the Ministry in the sports clubs register. The majority found this way of regulating the acquisition of legal personality by clubs to be unconstitutional.
• Art. 23/1, third sentence: The rule that the status, rights and obligations of a professional athlete are determined by the sports federation of the sport concerned.
• Art. 32/5: The rule that acts constituting disciplinary offences and the basic procedures of disciplinary proceedings are regulated by a regulation issued by the Ministry.
• Art. 38/1 (ı).
• Law No. 5894 Art. 6/2: The phrase providing that the chair and members of the TFF Arbitration Board are selected by the Board of Directors and the phrase "Board of Directors decision" regarding their appointment. This annulment is significant for the independence of the Arbitration Board.

The Court held that some of the challenged provisions are not contrary to the Constitution. For example, as to the possibility of establishing sports federations by law or by Presidential decree (Arts. 2/1-n and 26/1), it can be understood from the dissenting opinion that the majority found no unconstitutionality. For the other challenged provisions (Arts. 13/2, 21/3 and 33/2), no annulment appears in the consolidated text.

4. Practical consequences and points to note

• The provisions are currently in force: The annulled provisions of Law No. 7405 continue to apply until 2 January 2027. The legislature is expected to adopt a new regulation by then; we do not know what that regulation will be.
• Selection of Arbitration Board members: The annulment of Law No. 5894 Art. 6/2 creates a need to regulate afresh how the Arbitration Board is formed. Until new rules are made, the validity of decisions of the existing Board may be debated in judicial practice after the annulment takes effect.
• Athlete contracts: The annulment of the rule that a federation determines the status of professional athletes may create a need for new statutory rules on athlete–club relations. Whether existing contracts will be affected depends on the content of the new regulation.
• Do not miss time limits: The Constitutional Court decisions did not change the time limit for applying to the Arbitration Board; the seven-day period applies to federation decisions.

Conclusion

The Constitutional Court's two decisions show that the powers granted to private-law entities in sports administration must meet the safeguards of legality and independence required by the Constitution. For club and federation officials, athletes and coaches, the key point is to track the effective dates of the annulments (14 July 2026 and 2 January 2027) and to follow new legislation.

This article is provided for general information purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Legal support is recommended for specific disputes.