THE SWISS FEDERAL COURT CONFIRMS THE OPINION OF FIFA AND CAS CONCERNING TPO
In a decision of 20 February 2018 (4A_260 / 2017), the Federal Supreme Court examined two important issues in the field of sports justice and organized football. The first concerns the independence of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and the second concerns FIFA's regulatory provisions prohibiting third-party ownership (TPO).
In July 2015, RFC Seraing, a Belgian football club of the 3rd division, is accused of having concluded TPO-type contracts in violation of the new FIFA regulations. As a result, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee banned on 4 September 2015 RFC Seraing from registering players, nationally and internationally, during the next four transfer periods and fined it 150,000 francs. The RFC Seraing appealed to the FIFA Appeals Committee, without success, and then to the CAS, which partially confirmed FIFA's sanction in March 2017. The Belgian club then brought the matter before the Federal Supreme Cour , which confirmed the decision given by CAS.