The case involves a dispute between Football Club Irtysh Pavlodar (the Club) and player Bukari Sadat, adjudicated by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). The conflict arose from a decision by FIFA's Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) in 2017, which ordered the Club to pay the Player unpaid salary and compensation for breach of contract. The Club sought the grounds of the DRC's decision but missed the ten-day deadline to request them, leading FIFA to refuse the request. As a result, the decision became final and binding, and the Club was deemed to have waived its right to appeal.
The Club appealed to CAS, arguing FIFA wrongfully denied its request for the decision's reasoning. The CAS panel noted that only decisions on the merits of a dispute have a res judicata effect, meaning they are final and cannot be relitigated. Since the Club's appeal was dismissed on procedural grounds (missing the deadline), the merits of the dispute were not addressed, and no res judicata effect applied. The panel also found that FIFA was not properly named as a respondent, so CAS could not order FIFA to issue the motivated decision.
FIFA later provided the grounds of the decision in August 2018, but the CAS panel ruled this did not revive the Club's right to challenge it, as the original decision had already been finalized. The Club filed another appeal, but the player argued it was inadmissible due to res judicata. The Club countered that the prior CAS award did not address the merits, so res judicata did not apply. The Panel agreed, clarifying that res judicata applies only to substantive decisions, not procedural dismissals.
Ultimately, the Panel upheld the procedural dismissal of the Club's appeal, emphasizing the importance of adhering to deadlines and proper party nomination in arbitration. It ruled that FIFA's initial refusal to provide the grounds was final and binding, and the Club's failure to comply with procedural requirements precluded further review. The case underscores how procedural failures can prevent substantive examination, even if the underlying decision may have been flawed. The finality of FIFA's decision was upheld, leaving the Club without further recourse. The Panel dismissed the Club's appeal as inadmissible, reinforcing the principles of legal certainty and procedural discipline in sports arbitration.