Olubor Uyi Esq.

ANALYZING HOW THE COURT OF ARBITRATION FOR SPORTS MAY EXAMINE PAUL POGBA'S BAN ~Uyi Olubor Esq. On the 29th of February, French International and 2018 World cup winner, Paul Pogba was handed a four-year ban by the Italian Anti Doping Court having tested positive for synthetic testosterone. Although, the French International as come out to state that he is disappointed in the outcome of the findings, and he hopes to contest the said decision. The question that follows is what options are open to him? Well, for starters, he can appeal the said decision before the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS). Thus, the question that follows is what is the jurisprudence of CAS in respect of matters of these nature — that is to say, what nature of reasoning does CAS employ in deciphering or resolving subject matters of this nature (doping). To start with, I must first point out the fact that as of today we don't know the exact nature of drugs that Paul Pogba was accused of taking nor do we...

UNDERSTANDING THE DECISION OF THE EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE (ECJ) ON THE PROPOSED EUROPEAN SUPER LEAGUE~ Emmanuel Uyi Olubor Esq.  The ECJ ruled on the issue of whether UEFA or FIFA rules restricting teams from constituting a separate league are anticompetitive and a breach of a dominant position.  Before I descend into the nitty-gritty of the decision of the ECJ, I would like to commence by establishing certain facts First, the decision is not binding in Britain as a result of BREXIT, thus British teams like Arsenal, Chelsea et al. Can't use this decision reached by the ECJ as a pretext to join the European Super League. Secondly, as against what was reported by most media outlets, the ECJ did not authorize the establishment of a European Soccer league, instead what played out was that the ECJ ruled on points of law on an issue that was sent to it by the commercial court in Spain which was hitherto instituted by the European Super League Company. The ECJ decided on whether UE...

Analysing CAS decision on the proportionality  of the FIFA Football Agents Regulation~E.U Olubor Esq. The subject of this dispute bother on the fundamental question, whether FIFA can extend its regulatory powers beyond the task of governing the sport of football itself and cover peripheral economic activities, particularly the market of football agent service which it did with the establishment of the FFAR The Panel in reviewing Article 15(2) of the FFAR which imposes a service fee cap on service charges to be paid to football agents. The panel in assessing its compatibility with article 101TFEU. The panel concurs with the position of PROFAA that FIFA is an association of undertakings which holds a dominant market position within the definition of article 101& 102 of the TFEU respectively and also relying on the decision in Piau where the EU General Court specifically confirmed that FIFA holds a “collective dominant” position under Article 102 TFEU in the relevant market of foo...

GUNNARSDÓTTIR v OLYMPIC LYONNAIS: An AFFIRMATION BY FIFA ON THE MATERNITY RIGHTS OF FEMALE FOOTBALLERS.~Uyi Olubor Esq. The new edition of the FIFA Regulation on Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP)came with numerous innovations. One of those innovations is the enthronement of Maternity rights for Female Footballers. To the extent that, football clubs are forbidden from making the validity of a player's contract subject to a player being or becoming pregnant during its term. These new provisions were recently tested in the dispute between Sarah Bjork Gunnarsdóttir v Olympique Lyonnais at the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chambers (DRC). The dispute arose after a Player who just became pregnant agreed with her club, to leave her base in France and return to her home country in Iceland for the duration of her pregnancy. The club immediately, filed for the social security allowance on behalf of the player amounting to EUR 45.99 per day. The player then inquired as to the reasons why her sa...

ADVOCATE GENERAL (AG) OF THE EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE GIVES HIS OPINION ON THE PROPOSED EUROPEAN SUPER LEAGUE~ UYI OLUBOR ESQ. Aspirations by the remaining teams (i.e. Real Madrid, Barcelona and Juventus) still championing the advocacy for the formation of a European Super League suffered a significant blow today as the Advocate General of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) gave an opinion favouring FIFA and UEFA against the establishment of a European Super League Company. Note: that the ECJ is not bound by the Opinion of the AG. However, his opinions can be very persuasive as they aid as a stepping stone in their deliberation in reaching a final decision. If you can remember, this case was instituted by the ESLC against FIFA and UEFA before the Juzgado de lo mercantil de Madrid (Commercial Court of Madrid) after the former accused the latter of anticompetitive behaviour which it claimed they committed by threatening clubs who wished to join the competition. The court in Madrid, hav...

RESOLVING THE PERENNIAL DISPUTE WITHIN THE NIGERIA FOOTBALL FEDERATION ~ by Olubor Uyi ESQ. In the early hours of the day, news broke out that the Federal High Court holden at Abuja gave an order restraining the Nigerian Football Federation(NFF) from conducting elections into its executive council. In this article, I would try as much as possible not to comment on the meritocracy of the claimants demand neither am I going to question the validity of the ruling of the Federal High Court restraining the football federation. As it is trite law that during the pendency of an action, parties are to maintain status quo ante in order not to destroy the res. Thus, the Federal High Court was within its right when it made that ruling. However, my frustration stems from the fact that why is it that during every NFF election cycle we always have these litigations which then dovetails into the regime of every NFF EXCO. The result is always a constant 'bras de fer' between the NFF and the Fe...

Tunisia V MALI : ENSHRING PROFESSIONALISM IN AFRICAN FOOTBALL~ Olubor Uyi Esq. The African Cup of Nations began on the 9th of January 2015. Hitherto to the commencement of the soccer fiesta, the football world waited with bated breath in anticipation of what one of the biggest tournaments in the World produces. However, less than a week into the sporting carnival. Supporters of the beautiful game in Africa got the eggs on the face treatment during the highly anticipated clash between the National teams of Tunisia and Mali. The game was marred by many questionable decisions by the Referee. The straw that finally broke the Camel's back was when the Referee signalled the end of regulation time at the 86th minute. Although, they were claims that his time piece malfunctioned. Nevertheless, he made amendments by recalling the teams back to the pitch to continue the game. However, not less than three minutes later (that is, in the 89th minute), the man at the centre of the pitch again sig...