FOOTBALL ARBITRATION COURT

The Football Arbitration Court is a jurisdictional body of the Polish Football Association, which has jurisdiction to hear cases regarding:

  1. all property disputes,
  2. disputes over non-property rights that can be the subject of settlement, including those concerning the contractual stability of players,
  3. complaints against final decisions of the Appeals Committee for Club Licenses of the Polish Football Association (PZPN) on refusal to grant, suspension or revocation of licenses, arising from the practice, organization, dissemination and development of the sport of soccer, the settlement of which in arbitration proceedings is provided for by the statutes or regulations of FIFA, UEFA and PZPN.

Players may apply to the Court of Arbitration for claims concerning the formation, determination of the existence, validity, performance and termination of the professional soccer contract, other non-property claims concerning the assurance of contractual stability and the solidarity mechanism, as well as claims for property rights asserted jointly with them.

PZPN members, players, coaches and transaction intermediaries are obliged to formulate in civil law contracts, regarding disputes concerning the organization, promotion and practice of the sport of soccer, clauses providing for the exclusive jurisdiction of the Football Arbitration Court.

Disputes are heard through a procedure that guarantees the parties’ choice of arbitrators representing the football communities.

Each party has the right to designate an arbitrator to hear the case, this must be done with the submission of the first letter addressed to the Football Arbitration Court. In practice, most often the appointment of an arbitrator is made in the body of the statement of claim

The Polish Football Association, as the only entity representing the football community in Poland, has identified 9 candidates for arbitrators of the Football Arbitration Court./p>

Below is a list of lawyers who, on the recommendation of the Polish Football Association, serve as arbitrators before the Football Arbitration Court of the Polish Football Association:

1. STANISŁAW DROZD

Lawyer. Graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw. He deals with arbitration and so-called dispute management and the combination of alternative methods of constructive resolution of complex business disputes. He appears in arbitration proceedings pending, among others, under the rules of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris (ICC), the ICSID arbitration rules and ad hoc, under the UNCITRAL rules. He is involved in sports law and sports disputes. He is chairman of the Section on Human Rights in Sport at the Polish Institute for Human Rights and Business. He is a certified mediator of the Mediation Center at the Supreme Bar Council and the International Mediation Center at the International Chambers of Industry and Commerce in Poland.

2. PRZEMYSŁAW ZAWALSKI

Lawyer. Graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Warsaw. He deals with arbitration and so-called dispute management and the combination of alternative methods of constructive resolution of complex business disputes. He appears in arbitration proceedings pending, among others, under the rules of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris (ICC), the ICSID arbitration rules and ad hoc, under the UNCITRAL rules. He is involved in sports law and sports disputes. He is chairman of the Section on Human Rights in Sport at the Polish Institute for Human Rights and Business. He is a certified mediator of the Mediation Center at the Supreme Bar Council and the International Mediation Center at the International Chambers of Industry and Commerce in Poland

 

3. MARCIN SKULSKI

Legal Advisor. Graduate of the Catholic University of Lublin, practicing in the service of entrepreneurs for 14 years, since 2017 running his own professional practice in the Office of Legal Counsel Marcin Skulski in Plock. Since March 2018, an arbitrator of the Chamber for the Resolution of Sports Disputes at the Polish Football Association on the recommendation of the Polish Football Association.

 

4. MAREK JANICKI

Higher legal education, graduate of the Nicolaus Copernicus University in Warsaw. From 2002 to 2007, Chairman and then member of the Supervisory Board of Wisła Płock S.A. Subsequently, from 2007 to 2008, he served as President of the Management Board of this Company. From 2010 to 2014, managing director of SPR Wisła Płock. Currently, president of PGNiG Superliga sp. z o.o. Since 2016, arbitrator of the Football Arbitration Court of the Polish Football Association (PZPN) on the recommendation of the PZP.

 

 

5. JAROSŁAW MIODUSKI

Legal Advisor. Graduate of the Faculty of Law at the University of Warsaw, , since 1999 engaged in individual legal activity. Currently he is a partner and provides services within the Law Firm of Legal Advisors “Mioduski i Wspólnicy Sp.j., specializing in economic matters and servicing companies, including sports clubs. From 2003 to 2012, a member and then also Vice Chairman of the Game Department of the Polish Football Association. Until 2013, a member of the Main Council of the Chamber of Commerce of the Plock Region, taking part in the development of the project to establish and organize an arbitration court at the Chamber. Since 2016, arbitrator of the Football Arbitration Court of the Polish Football Association (PZPN) on the recommendation of the PZP.

 

 

 

6. KAMIL PIETRASIK

Bailiff, lawyer. Graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Lodz. Since 2002 he has been running a Bailiff’s Office at the District Court for Łódź Widzew. In 2020 he was entered on the list of attorneys at the District Bar Council in Lodz . He is actively involved in the International Union of Judicial Officers ( UIHJ ) and the European Foundation of Judicial Officers ( EUBF ). Since 2013 he has been an arbitrator in the Chamber for the Resolution of Sports Disputes at the Polish Football Association (PZPN) on behalf of the PZP.

 

 

7. ADAM ŚWIECKI

Lawyer. Graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Lodz. Since 2016, he has served as an arbitrator of the PSP on the recommendation of the PZP. He runs his own law firm and, as part of a partnership, law firms: Świecki & Puchacz Kancelaria Prawna sp. k. based in Lublin, Świecki & Brodzka Kancelaria Prawno- Podatkowa sp. k. based in Łódź. Professionally, he is involved in providing legal services to institutional entities, particularly in the construction and development sector. Since 2016, he has served as an arbitrator of the PSP on the recommendation of the PZP.

8. DAMIAN KACZMAREK

Lawyer. Graduate of the Faculty of Law and Administration at the University of Lodz. He completed his general and judicial training at the National School of Judiciary and Public Prosecution in Cracow. He was a court assessor at the District Court for Łódź – Śródmieście in Łódź XII Economic Department. He runs his own law firm. He is a mediator entered on the list of permanent mediators kept by the President of the District Court in Lodz. She is preparing her doctoral thesis at the Department of Civil Procedure I at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lodz entitled “Mediation in Non-Procedural Proceedings. “Mediation in non-procedural proceedings”.

9. JAROSŁAW ZUBRZYCKI

Legal Advisor. A graduate of the Faculty of Law at the University of Warsaw, he runs his own practice – the Law Office of Legal Advisor Jarosław Zubrzycki serving large business entities operating mainly in the development, telecommunications and entertainment services markets, a long-time member and Vice Chairman of the PZPN Games Department. Since 2016, he has served as an arbitrator of the PSP on the recommendation of the PZP.