Procedure, evidence, and communications

What to focus on while you read

Limitation periods, Legal Portal communications, deadlines, and standard of proof

Procedure questions dominate the bank: limitation periods, exclusive FIFA Legal Portal communications, Swiss-weekend deadline rules, motivated-decision requests, and the 'comfortable satisfaction' standard of proof. Exam stems often mix two of these traps in one scenario.

Key points

• Limitation periods differ by offence type (for example longer windows for anti-doping and certain integrity infringements).
• Communications with parties in disciplinary proceedings are sent exclusively through the FIFA Legal Portal — email or messaging apps are not a substitute when the Portal rules apply.
• When a deadline expires on a Saturday, Sunday or Zurich public holiday, the Swiss-weekend rule extends it to the next working day.
• After notification of a decision, parties typically have ten days via the Portal to request a motivated decision; failure to request in time has procedural consequences.
• The standard of proof is the comfortable satisfaction of the competent judicial body — neither criminal certainty nor a pure balance of probabilities.

Exam traps

• Using a single five-year limitation for every disciplinary offence.
• Filing urgent submissions by private email/WhatsApp and treating that as valid Portal service.
• Missing a weekend/holiday deadline without applying the Zurich extension rule.
• Confusing the ten-day motivated-decision window with appeal time limits.

Unit outline

1. Article 36

2. Article 37

3. Article 38

4. Article 39

5. Article 40

6. Article 41

7. Article 42

8. Article 43

9. Article 44

10. Article 45

11. Article 46

12. Article 47

13. Article 48

14. Article 49

15. Article 50

16. Article 51

17. Article 52

18. Article 53

19. Article 54

20. Article 55

21. Article 56

22. Article 57

23. Article 58