Applying to the TFF Arbitration Board: The Seven-Day Period, Decisions Covered and Finality

Applying to the Turkish Football Federation (TFF) Arbitration Board against decisions concerning clubs, players, coaches and others is a special route with very short time limits. If the period is missed, the decision may become final and judicial review may be closed. This article gives general information under Law No. 5894 and Article 59 of the Constitution; it does not replace an assessment of your case and predicts no result. For wage claims, see our article on athletes' wage claims.

1. TFF bodies: first-instance and the Arbitration Board

Under Law No. 5894, TFF's first-instance legal bodies include in particular the Dispute Resolution Committee, the disciplinary committees, the Club Licensing Committee and the Ethics Committee (Art. 5/1). The Arbitration Board is an independent and impartial mandatory arbitration authority and TFF's highest legal body, taking the final decision on applications against decisions of competent bodies (Art. 6/1). It consists of a chair and six regular and six substitute members chosen from lawyers with at least ten years' experience; members serve four-year terms with guarantees of impartiality and independence, and no body or person may give the Board orders or instructions (Art. 6/2-4).

2. Which decisions can be appealed?

Objections are made to the Arbitration Board against TFF instructions on the management and discipline of football activities and against decisions of the first-instance legal bodies on those matters. If no objection is made in time, the instructions and decisions become final, and judicial review is not available (Art. 5/3). Under Art. 18, TFF instructions, regulations and their applications can be challenged only by objection to the Arbitration Board.

3. The seven-day period

The period to apply to the Arbitration Board is seven days from publication of the instruction on TFF's website, or from service of the decision (Art. 6/5). Because the period is short, keep the date of service and documents and seek legal advice without delay. The procedure for application, examination and decision is set out in the Arbitration Board instruction (Art. 6/8).

4. Finality and judicial review

• Management and discipline decisions: the Board's decisions on the management and discipline of football activities are final (Art. 6/6). Article 59(3) of the Constitution likewise provides that only mandatory arbitration is available against federations' decisions on the management and discipline of sports activities, and that arbitration board decisions are final with no recourse to any judicial authority. The Council of State's 10th Chamber, in a decision of 2 March 2022 (2018/447, 2022/1026), noted that applying to a court against such Board decisions is not legally possible.
• Other decisions: against the Board's other decisions, an annulment action under Art. 439 of the Code of Civil Procedure may be filed within one month of service (Art. 6/6).
• General Assembly decisions: an annulment action against decisions of the TFF General Assembly that violate Turkish law or the TFF Statute may be filed within thirty days of the decision at the civil court of first instance where TFF's headquarters are located (Art. 16).

5. Are wage claims within the Arbitration Board's scope?

Under the Constitution, mandatory arbitration is limited to decisions on the management and discipline of sports activities. The 3rd Civil Chamber of the Court of Cassation, referring to the reasoning of the 2011 amendment to Article 59, has stated that there is no obligation to resolve receivable disputes between clubs and athletes or coaches this way, and that they are heard by the ordinary judicial courts under the general rules on jurisdiction (2020/8129, 2021/4674). Contractual disputes such as wage claims and management and discipline decisions such as fines and match bans therefore follow different routes.

The Dispute Resolution Committee's jurisdiction is determined by the TFF Statute and instructions. According to the 2015 Statute provision cited in a 13th Civil Chamber decision of 29 December 2017 (2016/22696, 2017/13097), the parties must accept the committee's jurisdiction in writing after the dispute arises; disputes about sporting penalties and training compensation are resolved exclusively before the committee. Because Statute provisions can change, check the current text from TFF's official sources.

6. Practical tips

• Identify the date of service or publication immediately; the seven-day period runs from it.
• Collect documents, defences and the disciplinary file concerning the decision.
• Check the current Arbitration Board instruction and TFF Statute for the form and procedure of application.
• Classify the dispute correctly at the start as management and discipline or receivable and contract; the wrong route can cause a missed period.
• Seek legal advice before the limits run.

To have your file assessed with its documents, you can create an appointment or reach us via the contact page.

This article is for general information only, contains no promise of results and is not legal advice. The decisions mentioned are examples only.