On 1 August 2025 the Court of Justice of the European Union ruled that awards of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) must be open to effective judicial review by the courts of EU Member States. In Case C-600/23, Royal Football Club Seraing, the Court held that national courts must be able to carry out an in-depth review of whether such awards are consistent with EU public policy.
The case arose from financing agreements that RFC Seraing, a Belgian club, concluded in 2015 with Doyen Sports, transferring part of the economic rights in some players. According to the Court's press release, FIFA found this breached its ban on third parties holding players' economic rights and imposed a registration ban and a fine. The sanctions were upheld by the CAS and then by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. When the club challenged the FIFA rules before the Belgian courts, they treated the CAS award as final and binding, and the Belgian Court of Cassation referred the question to Luxembourg.
What the Court decided
The Court noted that in football, as in many other sports, arbitration is generally imposed unilaterally on athletes and clubs by international associations. Arbitration is permitted in principle, but where it is implemented within the EU it must be compatible with the EU judicial architecture and with EU public policy.
National rules that give a CAS award the authority of res judicata, so that courts cannot examine its compatibility with EU law, are therefore contrary to EU law. Review may be limited to take account of the nature of arbitration, but it must allow an in-depth assessment against the principles and provisions of EU public policy, including the competition rules and the freedoms of movement. Individuals must be able to obtain interim relief and a preliminary reference to the Court of Justice, and national courts must disapply, of their own motion, national legislation or association rules that stand in the way.
Who is affected
The judgment matters to clubs, players, agents, investors and sports governing bodies that rely on CAS arbitration for disputes linked to economic activity in the EU. Awards upheld outside the EU may still be challenged before Member State courts on EU law grounds. The case now returns to the Belgian Court of Cassation, which must decide the dispute in line with the ruling.
