Sports arbitration in Lausanne... Boubahi simplifies the reading of the defenses for the “Cannes Final”

A lengthy analytical report written by Khalil Boubahi, a visiting professor at the Institute of Sports Professions in Kenitra and a member of the Sports Arbitration Chamber, concluded that “the Appellate Arbitration Body’s handling of the Senegalese Football Association’s appeal will not be an easy matter in light of the absence of relevant sports judicial precedents,” stressing that “there are a set of principles that the Sports Court has consistently established and affirmed in a group of its decisions, foremost of which is the protection of sports integrity and the application of justice in a way that contributes to the rule of law and regulations and the protection of... “Competitions.”

In his paper entitled: “The Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) and the Bet on Achieving Sports Justice - A Legal Reading in the Course of Litigation Concerning the Appeal to the Appeals Committee’s Decision,” Boubahi asserted, the full text of which was reviewed by Hespress, that “the Senegalese University seeks, through this appeal, to annul the aforementioned decision and restore the championship title, in a case that has now reached the peak of the stages of sports litigation, so that the word of the Court of Arbitration for Sport becomes final and binding for all parties.”

This came as the corridors of the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, witnessed a new chapter in the exciting sporting dispute surrounding the final of the African Cup of Nations “Morocco 2025”, while Khalil Boubahi presented an in-depth and academic legal analysis of the course of this case, far from emotions, anticipating the consequences of the final ruling of “TAS”.

In his reading, Boubahi explains that “the key to understanding this dispute lies in determining its precise legal nature, as it is classified as a disciplinary dispute related to ‘violating the competition’s regulations and not violating the seventeen laws of the game’.” He points out that sports disputes are divided into two categories: the first relates to violating the laws of the game, which is the responsibility of the referee as captain of the match, and the second relates to violating the rules and regulations that fall under the jurisdiction of judicial committees, such as the disciplinary committee and the appeals committee.

Accordingly, the same researcher believes that the Appeals Chamber at the Court of Arbitration for Sport “will consider the case as a final appeal to monitor the proper application of the regulations, and will not seek to reconcile the parties as is the case in ‘ordinary arbitration,’ which makes its mission focused on the legitimacy of the decision taken against the Senegalese team based on Articles 82 and 84 of the competition regulations.”

There are “formal gaps that may threaten the acceptance of the Senegalese appeal in the first place,” according to Boubahi, who considered that “the Senegalese Federation’s resort to the Court of Arbitration for Sport immediately upon reaching the operative part of the decision and without waiting for the reasoned decision (which includes the reasons) is considered a premature measure.”