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The long-running dispute involving the Senegalese Football Federation (FSF), the Confederation of African Football (CAF) and the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) will move to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) next week, with the appeal scheduled for hearing on October 8.
CAS confirmed that the hearing will take place at its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, following an appeal filed by the FSF against CAF and the FRMF.
The case will be heard by a three-member arbitration panel comprising Professor Gérald Simon of France, who will serve as president, Professor Luigi Fumagalli of Italy and Professor Dr Ulrich Haas of Germany.
Proceedings are scheduled to begin at 9:30am local time and will be conducted behind closed doors after the parties agreed not to request a public hearing.
“The hearing will be in person at CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland. The hearing date was fixed after consultation with the Parties, who did not request that it be made public. This means it will take place behind closed doors, without media present,” CAS said in its operational note.
Representatives of the FSF and FRMF are expected to attend the hearing in person, while CAF will be represented by its legal team.
CAS also confirmed that the proceedings will be conducted in French, following an agreement between the parties.
The arbitration panel will begin its deliberations after hearing the parties, but CAS stressed that a decision will not be issued on the day of the hearing.
“After the hearing, the Panel will start its deliberations. At this stage, CAS cannot state when a final decision will be rendered but it will not be on the day of the hearing,” the sports tribunal said.
The October 8 hearing is therefore expected to mark a key stage in the dispute, although the timing of the final ruling remains unknown.
