Who Decides Who Decides? A New Practitioner's Guide to CAS Jurisdiction
CAS jurisdiction is no longer a quiet threshold question
For years, the first question in any sports dispute — does the Court of Arbitration for Sport have jurisdiction at all? — was answered in Lausanne and reviewed, if at all, by the Swiss Federal Tribunal. That settled picture is changing. In RFC Seraing v FIFA (C-600/23, 1 August 2025), the Court of Justice of the European Union held that arbitration imposed by sporting rules must remain open to effective judicial review on questions of EU law — something a non-EU court cannot provide. UEFA responded by amending its Statutes, effective 1 July 2026, to name Dublin as a possible CAS seat, which would place annulment proceedings before the Irish High Court rather than the Swiss Federal Tribunal.
The result: jurisdictional objections, the scope of arbitration clauses and the choice of forum now carry more strategic weight than ever for clubs, federations, players and their counsel.
What this book brings to the table
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS): A Practitioner's Guide to CAS Jurisdiction (Edward Elgar Publishing, October 2026, ISBN 9781049412511), by sports lawyer and arbitrator Nilo Aguillar Effori and sports law consultant Botond Pintér, is a focused, award-by-award analysis of how CAS panels actually decide their own jurisdiction. Its four chapters cover CAS awards on its own jurisdiction, disputes arising from arbitration clauses, the competence of FIFA decision-making bodies, and the jurisdiction of sports tribunals — supported by indexes of awards and arbitrators' cases. It examines the doctrine of Kompetenz-Kompetenz as applied in sport and complements article-by-article commentaries on the CAS Code.
Where practitioners will use it
- Before filing an appeal: testing whether a statutory or contractual clause actually confers jurisdiction on CAS.
- Allocating the forum: mapping whether a club–player or agent dispute belongs before FIFA's bodies, a national sports tribunal or CAS.
- Arguing objections: locating directly relevant CAS awards quickly through the book's indexes when preparing or answering a jurisdictional challenge.
For law libraries
For academic and firm libraries supporting sports law, international arbitration or EU law programmes, this title fills a specific gap: a jurisdiction-only research tool built on CAS case law, at a moment when the review of CAS awards is being reshaped in Europe. It sits naturally alongside our Sports Law & Management and International Arbitration & Investment Disputes collections. Explore more titles in our Arbitration & Dispute Resolution 2026 Catalogue →
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Q&A
How does the Court of Arbitration for Sport decide whether it has jurisdiction?
CAS panels apply the Kompetenz-Kompetenz principle, ruling on their own jurisdiction by interpreting the arbitration agreement or statutory clause together with the regulations of the sports body concerned.
What did the CJEU decide in RFC Seraing v FIFA?
In C-600/23 (1 August 2025), the CJEU held that arbitration imposed by sporting rules must allow effective judicial review of EU law questions, which a non-EU court such as the Swiss Federal Tribunal cannot fully provide.
Can CAS arbitrations now be seated in Dublin?
Yes, for UEFA matters: amendments to the UEFA Statutes effective 1 July 2026 name Dublin as a potential CAS seat, meaning challenges to the award would go to the Irish High Court.
Which disputes involving FIFA does CAS hear?
CAS hears appeals against decisions of FIFA's decision-making bodies where the statutes and regulations provide for it; the book devotes a full chapter to how CAS awards treat the competence of those bodies.
Is there a practitioner's guide specifically on CAS jurisdiction?
Yes — The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS): A Practitioner's Guide to CAS Jurisdiction by Nilo Aguillar Effori and Botond Pintér (Edward Elgar, 2026, ISBN 9781049412511), available from CLNZ Books with worldwide shipping included in the price.