Football law counsel
Tangier · FIFA / CAS / NDRC
Unpaid wages.
Contract terminated.
Transfer blocked.
An independent sports law practitioner, I take the cases of professional players, clubs and FIFA-licensed agents before the FIFA Football Tribunal, the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne and the National Dispute Resolution Chamber of the FRMF.
First call free · Reply within 24 working hours · FR / EN / AR / ES
Forums
FIFA Football Tribunal
Dispute Resolution Chamber · Players' Status Chamber — Zurich
Court of Arbitration for Sport
Appeals against FIFA decisions — Lausanne
National Dispute Resolution Chamber
Royal Moroccan Football Federation — Rabat
Briefs and submissions drafted in French and English
2015
First FIFA proceedings handled
FIFA · CAS · NDRC
Forums I appear before
4 languages
French and English for submissions, Arabic and Spanish in professional use
Aix-en-Provence
Faculty of Law — business law and contractual litigation
What I do for you
Litigation
I bring the dispute before the right forum
FIFA Football Tribunal — Dispute Resolution Chamber and Players' Status Chamber. Appeals before CAS in Lausanne. National Dispute Resolution Chamber of the FRMF.
Drafting
I write the contract that protects you
Employment contracts for players and coaches, transfer agreements, representation agreements. Sell-on clauses, conditions precedent, arbitration clauses and governing law.
Compliance
I secure the deal before it costs you
Review of a transfer file against the RSTP and the FIFA framework: registration, training compensation, solidarity mechanism, reporting obligations.
Areas of practice
Each line is a type of file I handle regularly, with the regulatory basis it rests on.
Termination and just cause
Assessment of the grounds, default notice, safe termination or challenge to an unlawful breach. art. 14, 14bis, 17 RSTP
Overdue payables and enforcement
Claiming unpaid salaries and bonuses, then enforcing the decision: registration bans, follow-up on disciplinary sanctions. art. 24bis RSTP
Appeals before CAS
Admissibility and time limits, prescription, default interest, statement of appeal, appeal brief and answer.
Training compensation and solidarity
Calculation, claim or challenge of the amounts owed to training clubs on an international transfer.
Transfer clauses
Negotiation and drafting: sell-on interest, conditions precedent, payment schedules, arbitration clauses.
Agent / player disputes
Representation agreements: commission, exclusivity, term, termination, compliance with the FIFA Football Agent Regulations.
Sports-related commercial disputes
Exhibition matches, sponsorship, image and event services: performance, termination, liability.
Securing employment contracts
Pre-signature review: remuneration, bonuses, housing, termination, and the interplay between the RSTP, national labour law and the chosen governing law.
Quick guide
My club has stopped paying me. What now?
Four reflexes that decide how strong your case is. The order matters: a player who leaves before building proof of the breach often ends up as the respondent.
Count the overdue salaries
Two monthly salaries unpaid on their due dates open the way to termination with just cause. art. 14bis RSTP
Put the club in default, in writing
The default notice must be written and must give the club at least fifteen days to comply. Without it, the termination is fragile.
Sign nothing, leave nothing
No waiver, no amendment, no unilateral departure before analysis: those are the documents the club will produce against you.
File before time runs out
Claims before the Football Tribunal are time-barred two years after the event giving rise to the dispute. art. 25.5 RSTP
Gather these documents
With these in hand I can tell you in one conversation whether the case holds and what it may recover.
- Signed employment contract, annexes and amendments
- Proof of payment and bank statements
- All written exchanges with the club
- Any default notice already sent
- Any decision or notification received from FIFA, CAS or the federation
How a case runs
At every stage you know where your file stands, what remains to be produced and which deadline is running.
Step 01
First conversation
Fifteen to thirty minutes, free. You set out the facts, I tell you plainly whether there is a case.
Step 02
Analysis and strategy
Review of the contract, the RSTP and the governing law. A written note: options, prospects, deadlines, cost.
Step 03
Default notice and negotiation
Often the fastest route to payment. It also builds the record if the club does not move.
Step 04
Filing and proceedings
Brief, exhibits, filing before FIFA or the NDRC, replies to the other side until the decision.
Step 05
Enforcement or appeal
Actual recovery and sanctions in case of non-payment, or an appeal before CAS in Lausanne.
The deadlines that decide your case
2
unpaid monthly salaries
Threshold opening just cause for termination art. 14bis
15
days minimum
Time the default notice must give the club
21
days to appeal
Deadline to appeal to CAS from notification of the decision
2 years
limitation period
To bring a claim before the Football Tribunal art. 25.5
45
days to pay
After notification, before sanctions may be imposed
3
registration periods
Maximum ban on registering players for non-payment art. 24bis
Indicative benchmarks under the RSTP and the Code of Sports-related Arbitration. The deadlines applicable to a specific file must be verified case by case.
Sarah Zahraoui
Milestones
Based in Tangier, I practise independently as sports law counsel, with a practice centred on professional football.
I act for clubs, players and FIFA-licensed agents in their contractual disputes and in securing their transactions at international level. My work covers three axes: litigation before the FIFA Football Tribunal, on appeal before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne and before the National Dispute Resolution Chamber of the FRMF; contract drafting, whether players' employment contracts, transfer agreements or representation agreements; and regulatory compliance under the RSTP and the wider FIFA framework.
The files I handle involve clubs and federations across several jurisdictions: they require handling the FIFA regulations, national labour law and the governing law chosen in the contract in parallel. That intersection is what separates an admissible claim from one lost on procedure.
Submissions
French and English, for FIFA and CAS
Professional use
Arabic and Spanish, in meetings and negotiation
Education
Aix-en-Provence Faculty of Law — business law and contractual litigation
07 — Contact
Send me your case.
One message is enough to find out whether you have a case. Describe the situation in a few lines: club, dates, amounts at stake, documents you hold.
Reply within 24 working hours · Confidential
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