Manchester City locked out of Cas: how sport's ultimate appeals court works
Manchester City are fighting their 115 Premier League charges without one potential ally: the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas). While the Swiss-based legal body has overturned City bans before, an agreement struck by Premier League clubs means the club cannot take its current case to Lausanne.
What is Cas?
Cas is the legal body that settles sporting disputes which require a legal resolution, with independent panels of accredited arbitrators — meaning legal experts appointed by both sides of the dispute — reviewing cases and reaching decisions. Disputes can be down to governance, contractual or disciplinary issues.
More than 900 cases are filed to Cas every year, from more than 50 different sports. The court covers a broad range of sporting disputes, including employment contracts, sponsorship, television rights, organising sports events, player transfers, doping violations, on-field violence, match fixing, violation of ethical rules, corruption, safe sport issues, elections and term rules for sports federations, statutes for sports federations, and recognition of national or regional sports bodies.
Cas's headquarters are in Switzerland, but it can operate on-site teams for certain events.
Cas has been involved in a number of high-profile cases
One of the most high-profile cases involving Cas in recent years is the controversy surrounding the 2025 Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) final. Following a decision made by the Confederation of African Football (Caf) to overturn the result — meaning Morocco became the winners despite being defeated by Senegal in the final — Senegal announced they would be appealing against the decision to Cas.
In July 2020, Manchester City themselves had a two-year ban from competing in European competitions overturned by Cas. Now, an independent panel of accredited arbitrators from Cas has been reviewing the club's current case, with a hearing set for October.
At events like the summer and Winter Olympics, there is an on-site Cas team ready to handle all sporting disputes as quickly as possible. For example, one of the biggest stories of the 2026 Winter Olympics emerged when Ukrainian skeleton racer Vladyslav Heraskevych was banned from competing by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for wearing a helmet depicting images of Ukrainian athletes killed during Russia's invasion of his country — a decision he appealed to Cas. An emergency ad-hoc Cas meeting saw his case dismissed during the course of the Games.
However, many cases cannot be resolved so quickly, and can in fact take years to resolve. For example, at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Russia's team skaters had a gold medal dropped down to bronze by the International Skating Union after skater Kamila Valieva was handed an anti-doping ban. Russia appealed to Cas, but in July 2024 had their appeal dismissed. And US gymnast Jordan Chiles may have her 2024 Paris Olympics bronze medal reinstated as Cas continues to examine evidence that she submitted a score appeal within the legal time limits.
Why can't Manchester City appeal against their charges to Cas?
Manchester City do not have the option to involve Cas in their appeal against their Premier League charges. An agreement made by Premier League sides means that all cases involving the league and its clubs are conducted in England and Wales and in accordance with English law. Cas being based in Lausanne, Switzerland means it is not permitted to get involved in cases such as the Manchester City charges.
The Premier League has its own arbitration panel which can hear cases on a narrow number of factors as the last point of contest, rather than Cas, as stated in sections W97 and X.2.4 of the Premier League's handbook. A similar agreement is in place for clubs in the English Football League, meaning legal issues in the Championship, League One and League Two must be settled domestically.
This article is the latest from BBC Sport's Ask Me Anything team, answering questions from Brian in Manchester and Nigel in the Wirral.