Inauguration of the Sports Arbitration Center: Strengthening the Guarantee of Arbitration is Beneficial to the Settlement of Football Disputes

Reporter Wang Wei reports On December 31, 2024, the inauguration ceremony of the Sports Arbitration Center of the General Administration of Sport of China was held in Beijing, which will undertake the affairs and work of the former institution, the China Sports Arbitration Commission.

The China Sports Arbitration Commission has been running for more than a year, and from the perspective of the arbitration process, the parties who are dissatisfied with the decision of the dispute resolution body of each individual association can appeal to the China Sports Arbitration Commission in a unified manner, including those who are dissatisfied with the specific ruling of the Dispute Resolution Committee of the Chinese Football Association, for example, the decision of the Dispute Resolution Committee of the Chinese Football Association can be appealed to the China Sports Arbitration Commission within 21 days.

According to the China Sports Arbitration Commission, since its establishment on February 11, 2023, the committee has accepted nearly 100 sports arbitration applications, involving football, ice hockey, hockey, taekwondo, marathon, chess and other sports.

The former members of the China Sports Arbitration Commission are all part-time personnel, and the arbitrators who handle specific cases are also part-time experts. The acceptance of sports arbitration cases, the trial of cases, the management of arbitrators, the study of systems, and foreign exchanges all require specialized institutions and full-time staff, as well as fixed workplaces and professional supporting facilities as work guarantees. After more than a year of operation, the number of affairs in the field of sports arbitration is large and the workload is large, so it is necessary to officially list the Sports Arbitration Center and provide full-time services in sports arbitration.

The formal establishment of the Sports Arbitration Center will provide personnel and material support for the effective performance of the functions and implementation of the sports arbitration system by the China Sports Arbitration Commission, and ensure the independent, impartial and professional operation of the sports arbitration system and sports arbitration institutions.

Li Jing, Deputy Director of the General Administration of Sports, said at the unveiling ceremony that the establishment of the Sports Arbitration Center is a key content, major measure and important progress of the General Administration of Sports of the People's Republic of China in implementing the newly revised Sports Law of the People's Republic of China and implementing the sports arbitration system in accordance with the law, and provides a strong organizational guarantee for actively promoting the legalization, standardization and professionalization of the sports dispute resolution mechanism. Sports arbitration is an important system established by the newly revised Sports Law, which is of great significance to maintaining the good order of the development of sports.

According to relevant sources, the establishment of the China Sports Arbitration Commission is of great significance, which can be called a turning point in China's sports arbitration.

As of the official listing of the Sports Arbitration Center, the China Sports Arbitration Commission has 103 arbitrators, all of whom are composed of lawyers and other professionals who are familiar with the relevant sports fields. The listing of the Sports Arbitration Center is conducive to a more open and clear appeal platform for football arbitration outside the Football Association.

Of course, for football arbitration, the Football Association has also been adapting to the rules and making self-changes in the past year or so. On August 16, 2023, the Chinese Football Association announced through its official website that some provisions of the working rules of the Arbitration Committee of the Chinese Football Association were adjusted to change the final system of the first award. Article 4 reads: "The arbitration commission shall implement a final adjudication system in handling dispute cases" to read: "Relevant disputes arising within the jurisdiction of the Chinese Football Association may apply to the China Sports Arbitration Commission for arbitration in accordance with the law." "At the beginning of 2024, the Arbitration Committee of the Chinese Football Association has been renamed the Dispute Resolution Committee of the Chinese Football Association.

This provides an additional layer of arbitration and appeal for various disputes, including football, in terms of rules. For example, if a player or club is not satisfied with the ruling of the Dispute Resolution Committee of the Chinese Football Association, he can also appeal to the China Sports Arbitration Commission within 21 days. Now, after the official listing of the Sports Arbitration Center, many disputes and penalties in the field of football have a clear and reliable re-appeal channel and institution.