The 71st FIFA Congress, held on 21 May 2021, approved, amongst other matters, a significant restructuring of FIFA’s dispute resolution system with the creation of the FIFA Football Tribunal (FT). This has been analysed extensively,[1] and therefore, the authors will focus the present piece on the inclusion of the possibility of mediation into the Procedural Rules Governing the Football Tribunal (the Rules). The authors were recently part of one of the first FIFA Mediations, a proceeding which was one of the first successful FIFA mediations, as part of its pilot. This allows for an analysis of the mediation procedure FIFA has implemented, as well as reflections on what allowed the authors’ mediation to reach a successful conclusion for all parties involved.
Before analysing FIFA’s introduction of mediation, it is worth reflecting that, in many respects, this is a reintroduction. For a brief period between 2001 and 2005, FIFA offered mediation under its conciliation proceedings. The 2001 FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (FIFA RSTP) provided, at Article 42:
“1 Without prejudice to the right of any player or club to seek redress before a civil court in disputes between clubs and players, a dispute resolution and arbitration system shall be established, which shall consist of the following elements:
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