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07 November 2025
Issue: 8138 / Categories: Legal News , Sports law , Arbitration , International , Profession , EU , Competition , Public
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NLJ this week: EU law trumps sports arbitration

235029
RFC Seraing v FIFA, in which the Court of Justice of the EU (CJEU) reaffirmed that awards by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) may be reviewed by EU courts on public-policy grounds, is under examination in this week's NLJ by Dr Estelle Ivanova of Valloni Attorneys at Law, Zurich

The case stemmed from FIFA’s ban on third-party ownership of players’ rights, challenged as anti-competitive.

Ivanova notes that the judgment upholds CAS efficiency while asserting EU law’s supremacy—competition law being central to EU public policy. Crucially, if an arbitral award has not been subject to judicial review within an EU jurisdiction, it cannot claim finality (res judicata) when EU principles are engaged.

The decision, Ivanova writes, integrates sports arbitration into the EU legal order, ensuring fundamental rights prevail even over arbitral autonomy.

MOVERS & SHAKERS

Debevoise & Plimpton—Mary Lavelle

Debevoise & Plimpton—Mary Lavelle

Debevoise expands London secondaries team with addition of Mary Lavelle

Excello Law—Hestia Private Client

Excello Law—Hestia Private Client

Excello Law welcomes ex-Irwin Mitchell team to launch Hestia Private Client

Carpmaels & Ransford—Christopher Stothers

Carpmaels & Ransford—Christopher Stothers

Heavyweight patent litigator will bolster Carpmaels Ransford’s rapidly growing Litigation team as firm marks its 250th anniversary

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The Financial Reporting Council’s revised Audit Enforcement Procedure will alter the balance of power in corporate investigations

Safety fears do not automatically justify shutting an interested person out of a statutory will application

Consumer credit law is heading for its biggest shake-up in 50 years, with the Consumer Credit Act 1974 set to yield much of its detailed statutory machinery to FCA rules
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