Sports justice: from the disciplinary file to the TAD and the CAS

Published on 26 June 2026

Sport is governed by its own rules and by its own system of justice, which sits alongside ordinary law without fully overlapping with it. For anyone facing a disciplinary file, what is decisive is usually twofold: identifying the competent body and, above all, meeting deadlines that here are often very short.

The usual route

• Federation disciplinary bodies: the first instance before the relevant federation (competition and disciplinary committees).
• Administrative Court for Sport (TAD): governed by Act 39/2022 of 30 December on Sport, it is the last administrative instance in disciplinary matters in Spanish sport; it reviews what the federations have decided.
• Administrative-litigation route: once the administrative route is exhausted, the TAD's decisions may be challenged before the administrative courts.
• CAS, in Lausanne: international sports arbitration, the leading forum for matters with an international dimension (competitions, doping, transfers).

Why deadlines are everything

In sports justice, a day lost can close off a route. Preparing the submission and the evidence in advance, before the deadline bites, is what makes the difference between defending yourself well and arriving too late.

A practical example

Take an athlete whom a federation committee suspends for several matches in the middle of the season. The time limit to appeal to the disciplinary body and then to the Administrative Court for Sport is often counted in a few working days. Preparing the appeal and the evidence in advance can be the difference between competing the following weekend or being left out.

If the matter has an international dimension (for example, a sanction by an international sports body), the route to follow may not be the Spanish one but arbitration before the CAS in Lausanne, with its own rules and deadlines. Identifying from the outset which instance has jurisdiction avoids losing the only opportunity to mount a defence.

How I approach it

It is a field I know closely: I trained in it specifically (a master's degree in Sports Law from the ICAB) and worked in it during my years in business law practice, with athletes and clubs. To my usual rigour I add here a close watch on deadlines that do not forgive.

If you are facing something like this, you can read how I handle sports law matters or write to me for an initial assessment.

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