Football is the most popular sport in Ghana and boasts one of the most highly rated national teams in Africa. However, the nation’s favourite sport has recently been plunged into chaos as a result of an undercover investigation that infiltrated the Ghana Football Association (‘GFA’), exposing both referees and executives that eventually saw FIFA intervening. The investigation was carried out by journalist Anas Aremeyaw Anas and his team of reporters, and was released following years of speculation that corruption was rife in Ghanaian football. Anas set-up meetings with a number of individuals involved in Ghanaian football, including referees and executives. The footage was provided to BBC Africa Eye who thereafter exposed the scandal in a feature length documentary¹. The footage appears to show a number of referees accepting cash payments before games in both domestic and international fixtures, including the Confederation of African Football (‘CAF’) Champions League. Over 150 separate payments are reported to have been received from undercover reporters, with the involvement of over 100 officials and their bosses. As if that was not enough to spark a public outcry, the investigation also targeted an international referee, from Kenya, who was due to officiate in the 2018 World Cup, as well as the President of the GFA, Kwesi Nyantakyi, who was caught on camera accepting a cash gift of $65,000, from undercover reporters, in relation to what he considered was a potential sponsorship deal. Nyantakyi had been at the reigns of Ghanaian football for 13 years. Laura McCallum, Counsel at Lombardi Associates, dissects the fallout of the investigation, and discusses the GFA and FIFA’s efforts to move forward with restoring integrity and stability to Ghanaian football. / read more

To keep abreast of the ever-changing global transfer market in football, FIFA’s Transfer Matching System (‘TMS’) has been in constant development since it was implemented as a mandatory platform for player transfers by FIFA in October 2010. World Sports Advocate spoke to Kimberly Morris, Head of TMS Global Transfers & Compliance at FIFA, about the ongoing development of TMS, the new transfer regulations that have been implemented by FIFA in recent times and how TMS will continue to develop in the future. / read more

Following the hearing of the former chair of FIFA’s Governance Committee, Miguel Maduro, before the UK’s Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (‘DCMS’) Committee in September 2017¹, in which Miguel provided evidence to MPs about his experiences at FIFA, World Sports Advocate spoke to Miguel about what changes he believes need to be made within FIFA, and whether he has any regrets. / read more

Following the Extraordinary FIFA Congress held in February, Trevor Watkins, Julian Diaz-Rainey and Alex Richardson of Pinsent Mason’s Global Sport Advisory Team, consider what the future holds for FIFA as it embarks on implementing its reform programme and the challenges that lay ahead for the new President. / read more

The Extraordinary FIFA Congress held in Zurich on 26 February approved a set of reforms to FIFA’s governance structure, which includes improvements to the governance of global football, whilst electing Gianni Infantino as the new FIFA President for the remainder of the current term of office. / read more

The International Federation of Football Players (‘FIFPro’) recently lodged a competition law complaint with the European Commission challenging the current international player transfer system. FIFPro claims that the transfer market harms its members' rights to move between clubs alleging that it sets forth an unjust system that helps the bigger clubs stockpile players. FIFPro suggests abolishing transfer fees and replacing them with a collective bargaining system. The players union claims the global transfer market system governed by FIFA regulations is anti-competitive, unjustified and illegal. Martin Stopper and Simon Karlin of Lentze Stopper Rechtsanwälte, explain the status quo of the current system, the objectives and underlying arguments of FIFPro’s complaint and provide legal analysis of the complaint while critically evaluating the potential outcome and the future of the international transfer system. / read more

FIFA’s regulations for the transfer of players were intended to be adopted uniformly by all member associations. However, FIFA’s reluctance to intervene in domestic football related matters has led to some federations promoting practices which, to the very least, suggest a conflict with fundamental employment principles. Ricardo de Buen, Attorney at Law and a CAS arbitrator, reviews two sui generis systems in Mexican football, the Gentlemen’s Agreement and the Draft, and provides a detailed analysis of these in light of FIFA and employment regulations. / read more

Cyber security and confidentiality are prime concerns when dealing with transfer information in FIFA’s TMS system. Barry Lysaght, Integrity and Compliance Counsel at FIFA TMS discusses the security regulations in the system and the balance between transparency and protecting sensitive information. / read more

That sponsors have a public, finger-wagging role to play in keeping the pressure on FIFA is undoubted, but what they can, and perhaps should, do contractually in response to recent revelations, has been given less attention. Alex Kelham and Frances Pollitzer of Lewis Silkin’s Sport Group analyse the alternatives sponsors may have to prevent incidents tainting an organisation from compromising their brand’s reputation focusing, in particular, on the recent FIFA related investigations. / read more

FIFA’s Regulations on Working with Intermediaries, which de-regulate the current system of licensing football agents and instead require FIFA member associations to implement a registration system for intermediaries and makes them responsible for ensuring that the intermediary has an ‘impeccable reputation’, come into force on 1 April. / read more

In March, the Swiss Federal Court annulled a FIFA decision supported by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to ban Brazilian player Matuzalem from playing football until Real Zaragoza paid €12 million owed to Shakhtar Donetsk. Eduardo Carlezzo, an Attorney with Carlezzo Advogados, examines how this decision could undermine FIFA's disciplinary system, underpinned by the CAS. / read more