Court of Arbitration for Sport

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is the independent international body that resolves legal disputes in sport. Founded in 1984 by the International Olympic Committee, CAS is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, though it operates under Swiss law as a fully independent institution. It has three divisions: Ordinary (first-instance commercial disputes), Appeals (challenges against federation decisions), and Ad Hoc (created on-site at major events). CAS handles approximately 400 to 600 cases per year and draws arbitrators from around 100 countries. Its rulings are enforceable in courts of signatory states and are widely regarded as the final word on sports governance disputes.

CAS became central to the 2026 World Cup's most politically charged dispute when the Palestine Football Association filed a formal appeal on approximately 20 April 2026, challenging FIFA's decision not to suspend the Israel Football Association or expel Israeli clubs based in occupied West Bank settlements. FIFA had levied a fine of approximately $191,000 on the IFA, a penalty the PFA argued was entirely inadequate. The appeal was progressing through CAS proceedings as the 76th FIFA Congress convened in Vancouver at the end of April, meaning Israel's participation remained technically unresolved through the highest level of sports governance.

CAS sits above FIFA's own internal disciplinary machinery as the final external tribunal available to any party that has exhausted federation process. When FIFA's Appeal Committee issues its ruling, as it did on 26 June 2026, upholding South Africa captain Themba Zwane's three-match ban with no published reasoning, the only remaining avenue is CAS. As of 4 July, Iran's own football federation (FFIRI) had filed no case at CAS over the team's group-stage exit, despite a separate $1 billion lawsuit against FIFA and president Gianni Infantino lodged in a Boston federal court by an Iranian-American academic previously charged under FARA as an unregistered Iranian agent. The absence of a CAS filing suggests FFIRI has, so FAR, kept its grievance outside the sport's own arbitration ladder rather than escalating through the forum that resolved the PFA and Zwane disputes.