FIFA’s Circular no. 1842: Mandatory use of the FIFA Legal Portal as of 1 May 2023

As part of its ongoing commitment to modernising football’s regulatory framework, on 1 May 2022, FIFA launched the FIFA Legal Portal (the Portal – legalportal.fifa.com), an online platform through which proceedings before the FIFA Football Tribunal and the FIFA judicial bodies can be conducted.

As outlined in circular no. 1795, the Portal is aimed at enabling FIFA member associations and football stakeholders, including their legal representatives, to manage proceedings before the relevant FIFA decision-making or judicial body, by ensuring simple, secure and transparent communication between FIFA and the parties involved, as well as a better understanding of proceedings and heightened traceability.

a. Mandatory use of the Portal

The Portal is intended to replace the current email communication system and has been in place since the start of the transition phase on 1 May 2022. The preliminary test phase and transition period set out in the aforementioned circular ended, in principle, on 31 December 2022.

Several amendments to the FIFA regulatory framework were approved by the FIFA Council at its meeting on 14 March 2023 to reflect that, as of 1 May 2023, all proceedings before the FIFA Football Tribunal outside the FIFA Transfer Matching System (TMS) and the FIFA judicial bodies shall be initiated and conducted exclusively through the Portal. In this context, various provisions of the Procedural Rules Governing the Football Tribunal (the Procedural Rules), the FIFA Disciplinary Code (FDC) and the FIFA Code of Ethics (FCE) have been amended in order to reflect the mandatory use of the Portal as of 1 May 2023. In other words, the mandatory use of the Portal will apply to both new and ongoing proceedings.

Thus, as from 1 May 2023, (i) anyone intending to lodge a new claim before the aforementioned bodies will have to do so via the Portal, and (ii) submissions and other correspondence sent by any other means (such as email or post) will no longer be admissible in the said proceedings. For the sake of clarity, please note that the above also applies to ongoing proceedings.

While the Portal must be used for any proceedings before the relevant FIFA decision-making or judicial body, including the notification of decisions, the procedural aspects of those proceedings will still be governed by the applicable FIFA regulations.

Notwithstanding the above, and for the sake of clarity, transfers or first registration of minors, limited minor exemptions, requests for intervention regarding the registration of players, claims related to training rewards (training compensation and solidarity contribution) and proceedings concerning electronic player passports will continue to be handled through TMS.

b. Access to the Portal

As of 1 May 2023, any person wishing to access the Portal is required to create an account, which will involve providing various pieces of information. Once created, the account needs to be approved by FIFA. To speed up this approval, FIFA strongly encourages clubs and member associations to use the same email address as that listed under the “Contact” tab in TMS, so that it matches the information in the relevant pre-existing database. We would like to remind you that the information entered in TMS and the Portal is binding on the relevant party.

In line with the above, if one of the parties to the proceedings does not have an account on the Portal, the FIFA administration will inform the party concerned by email, or via the relevant member association and/or club, of the said proceedings and invite it to create its own account on the Portal within three days following the email. Said party will also be warned that any failure to do so will be to its detriment as the proceedings will exclusively be conducted via the Portal.

c. Reminder – general principles on the use of the Portal

Users of the Portal are required to act in good faith and to ensure that all information they enter in the Portal is correct. In particular, it is essential that each user keeps their account and personal details up to date at all times.

In addition, there is a limit of one account per user (including clubs and member associations), and users must keep their login details and all information and documents obtained through the Portal confidential.

Finally, users are reminded that upon receipt of an automatically generated email from the Portal, they should check their account without delay. Notwithstanding these notifications, users involved in proceedings before the FIFA Football Tribunal and/or the FIFA judicial bodies are required to check their respective accounts once per day. Users who fail to do so will have
to bear the procedural and legal consequences.

d. Sanctions

A user who enters false and/or erroneous information in the Portal, fails to keep their account up to date or misuses the portal may be sanctioned by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee.

In addition, users are required to immediately report any issues, suspicions or potential misuse of the Portal to the Portal Helpdesk.

e. Conclusion

FIFA is continuing to modernise its systems in order to facilitate and streamline proceedings before its decision-making and judicial bodies by filing and managing claims, while at the same time ensuring transparency and traceability for all football stakeholders.

Accordingly, FIFA would like to thank those users who have already registered on the Portal and provided valuable feedback, and encourages those who have not yet done so to register.

Further information on the Portal (including a user manual) can be found on legalportal.fifa.com or in circular no. 1795.