The crisis of signing player Mohamed Knoh to win and then renew with his club Al-Hilal has revealed a rule crisis that needs to be addressed by first finding the error and then finding solutions to avoid duplicating jurisdictions and duplicating texts between judicial departments. in all sports matters.
Although there is an explicit clause in the professional rules that the Dispute Resolution Chamber deal with the signing of two contracts by a player, the Professionalism Committee caused controversy in its statement on the crisis.
And as the FA Professionalism Committee kept up with the crisis, last February it issued a statement explaining its role and possible penalties, before concluding the statement with a paragraph that read: “Once the Chamber has carried out the necessary , the Professionalism Committee will proceed with its procedures, in accordance with its general competence, to consider and decide on all Disciplinary Matters relating to those to whom this regulation applies.
But when the Dispute Resolution Chamber completed its consideration of the case, all decisions were announced, including disciplinary ones, which revealed a shortcoming.
This requires the city to seek the help of a number of lawyers to uncover the truth in the rules and texts between the various departments of the Football Association.
False beginnings
Dr. Omar Al-Houli, a legal expert, first sees that the rules and regulations of the International Football Association (FIFA) are clear in this regard, and we find each specialized committee with its own organization and there is no need to merge them.
He added that the statement of the Professional Committee regarding the crisis of the player Muhammad Kanu revealed possible solutions for him in the case according to its terms of reference, while there are other decisions of the Dispute Resolution Chamber, according to its jurisdiction, but “the Chamber has rendered all decisions.”
He went on and here comes the difference in the drafting of legal texts and the Saudi Arabian Football Association should appoint legal professionals who have full knowledge and familiarity with the rules and regulations, their interpretation and how to work with them.
Al-Houli explained that this confusion that we see in the coats of arms of the Saudi Federation is the result of wrong and shaky legal undertakings, as it is the main reason for what is happening now in terms of conflicting decisions in committees, and even something that many lawyers miss information due to a lack of transparency and clarity in communicating the correct information.
Jurisdiction of the Chamber
Regarding the lawyer, Dr. Ayman Al-Rifai, former head of the Disciplinary Committee, he said: “Of course, as in the case of FIFA, the Dispute Resolution Chamber is competent to deal with all complaints related to contractual disputes and violations of the provisions of the Professional Regulations.
He added: “Perhaps in the coming seasons we will see, God willing, that the competence of the Professionalism Committee will be to organize matters related to contracts and registration of players, as well as to organize player brokers, their licenses, professional managers and others. which are subject to the regulation.
The Dispute Resolution Chamber’s mandate has ended to deal with contractual disputes between players, coaches and clubs, as well as violations of the Professionalism Regulations.
And pointed out that with this step, there is one body to deal with violations of professional regulations and disputes between clubs, coaches and players regarding contracts, compensation and other things, and we guarantee the absence of duplication, speed of action and decision-making with complete independence.
He concluded by saying that the Dispute Resolution Chamber should be made up of members, most of whom, in addition to sports expertise, are legal professionals.
Lack of specialists
For his part, lawyer Khaled Al-Mahmadi believes that the origin of any committee is that its members are experts in the field of law. He added, we note, for example, that in the Dispute Resolution Chamber there are only two capable persons, and the rest do not have any specialization, and we have in the case of Muhammad Kno the largest example, since the case requires precise interpretation. rules and this has to be done by legally specialized members and there is more than one solution for that.
– First decision: The entire composition of each commission should be made up of specialists in the field of law, such as the Disciplinary Appeals Commission, since they are all specialists and have experience in this field.
Second solution: The problems between the Professionalism Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber must be resolved and reprogrammed.
– Third and final decision: The Saudi Arabian Sports Media Federation should instruct the various media outlets not to host other than those licensed by the Saudi Arabian Bar Association, especially since we are currently finding many channels hosting lawyers, who do not have permits to allow them to speak legally and legally.
