TFF Dispute Resolution Board

The Dispute Resolution Board was first regulated during the period of Law No. 3813. Subsequently, amendments were made to Law No. 3813 through Law No. 5719 dated 29.11.2007, establishing a new legal board in football governance named the Dispute Resolution Board. In this context, we will examine all matters within the DRB's jurisdiction and duties, including the Board's responsibilities, formation, resignation of membership and dissolution, application procedures, trial process, and procedural rules within the framework of the DRB Regulations and TFF Statute.

Although the DRB Regulations were drafted to determine the working principles and procedures of the Dispute Resolution Board as set forth in Law No. 5894 on the Establishment and Duties of the Turkish Football Federation and the TFF Statute, certain changes have occurred due to the restructuring of the TFF Statute in 2021 and the updating of some provisions. Therefore, although the DRB has its own dedicated regulations within the TFF, we will conduct our examination taking the TFF Statute into account, as it represents the most current regulation regarding the DRB's duties and characteristics.

Duties and Jurisdiction

The Dispute Resolution Board, when its jurisdiction is accepted by the parties, examines and decides all disputes arising from football-related contracts between clubs, players, coaches, and football agents. The Board awards legal fees to the prevailing party's attorney, if any, equal to the fixed attorney fee applied in cases followed in Courts of First Instance according to the official fee schedule (Statute Art. 56/2).

Formation and Structure

The DRB consists of a Chairman, 6 principal members, and 6 substitute members. Board members must be law faculty graduates with at least 10 years of experience (Statute, Art. 55/1). Pursuant to Statute Article 54, the independence and impartiality of the legal boards must never be called into question. For this reason, Article 55(1) of the Statute states that Board members cannot be members of sports clubs subject to the jurisdiction of TFF Legal Boards, nor shareholders, executives, or supervisory board members of these clubs' subsidiary companies. The term of office of the Dispute Resolution Board is 4 years. Members elect a vice-chairman and a rapporteur from among themselves (Statute, Art. 55/2).

Those serving on the TFF Board of Directors, Audit Committee, and other boards and sub-boards, or those actively serving in football clubs (including those serving in elected or appointed boards of professional football clubs), as well as professional players, coaches, medical staff, football agents, and match organizers cannot serve as DRB members (Statute Art. 55/3).

The Board is independent in its duties. Members cannot be replaced unless they resign or are deemed to have resigned. In vacancies arising from death, resignation, or other reasons, the TFF Board of Directors may make appointments through the same procedure. Substitute members elected under this paragraph serve for the remaining term (Statute Art. 55/4).

Application Procedures

According to the DRB Regulations currently in force, applications to the Dispute Resolution Board are made by petition, and it is mandatory to attach a receipt showing that the full application fee has been paid to the petition. Petitions are submitted to the DRB Coordination Office to be presented to the Dispute Resolution Board (Regulations, Art. 5).

The mandatory elements that must be present in the petition and/or its annexes are detailed in Article 6(3) of the Regulations, including the parties' personal information, the representative's authorization documents, the value of the claim, a clear summary of all facts underlying the claimant's allegations, evidence for each alleged fact, a clear statement of the request, signatures, the receipt showing full payment of the application fee, and finally, the agreement demonstrating acceptance of the DRB's jurisdiction.

Applications where the full application fee has not been paid are not accepted for review. If mandatory elements are incomplete, the petition is returned to the claimant. If mandatory elements are not completed within seven days, the application is deemed not to have been filed. The respondent must submit a response petition within seven days from the date the petition is served.

Impartiality and Recusal

Board members are obligated to immediately recuse themselves when there are justified reasons that would create serious doubt about their impartiality. Such justified reasons include being directly or indirectly involved in the dispute, the dispute concerning a club of which the member is a member or serves on its boards, kinship relationships up to the third degree with the parties, and material interest or close relationships with the parties or their representatives (Regulations Art. 8/1).

A party's claim regarding justified reasons for doubting a member's impartiality must be reported to the Board Chairman in writing with reasoning within seven days of learning of the situation. The objected chairman or member cannot participate in the Board meeting where the objection is discussed. Appeals against such decisions are made to the Arbitration Board together with the Board's final decision on the dispute (Regulations Art. 8).

Trial Procedure and Applicable Law

The DRB convenes on the date specified by the Chairman and, as a rule, at the venue allocated by the TFF Board of Directors. The Board first examines dispute files in terms of jurisdiction, capacity, interest, and time limits. The Board conducts its examination based on the file as a rule; however, if one of the parties requests a hearing, the hearing request must be accepted, with only one hearing held (Regulations Art. 9/3).

The DRB makes its decisions according to Turkish substantive law, based on Law No. 5894, the TFF Statute, TFF Regulations and Arrangements, and FIFA and UEFA Rules (Regulations, Art. 16). The Board may decide on provisional protective measures when "the occurrence of irreparable harm is highly probable," upon the request of the interested party (Regulations, Art. 18).

Decisions and Appeals

The quorum for Board meetings is five. The Board must render its decisions within a maximum of 4 months from the date of application. Decisions are taken by a simple majority of members present at the meeting. In the event of a tie, the Chairman's vote is decisive (Statute, Art. 55.5, Regulations, Art. 10). Abstention is not permitted.

Parties dissatisfied with DRB decisions may apply to the TFF Arbitration Board within 7 days of being notified of the decision. Decisions rendered by the Dispute Resolution Board become final when no objection is filed with the Arbitration Board or upon the Arbitration Board's decision following an objection. Final Board decisions are immediately implemented by the TFF (Regulations Art. 12).