How to enforce claims arising from judgments of the Football Arbitration Court of the Polish Football Association (PZPN)?
In today's post, I would like to address the topic of enforcing awards from final judgments of the Football Arbitration Court of the Polish Football Association (PZPN), and therefore discuss the further steps that a party can take when the debtor does not voluntarily fulfill the monetary obligation. While I will focus on the enforcement of judgments of the PZPN football arbitration court, the remarks concerning the procedure for obtaining an enforcement clause and initiating enforcement proceedings are universal and apply to arbitration awards in general - not just in sports.
If, despite the finality of the judgment of the football arbitration court, we have not yet received the monetary amount awarded, there are several options to compel the debtor to change this situation. If we want to refer the matter to a court bailiff, so that the bailiff can enforce the claim using the statutory powers available to them, we must first obtain an enforcement clause for the relevant judgment (or other decision, such as a settlement).
Unlike the actual decision issued by the arbitration court, only a common court can grant an enforcement clause. In order to obtain an enforcement clause for a judgment or settlement, you must submit with the application for the enforcement clause the original judgment/settlement (or a certified copy) and the original (or officially certified copy) of the clause referring the case to the arbitration court. The competent court will be the appellate court in the area where the court that would have jurisdiction over the case if the parties had not referred it to the arbitration court is located, and in the absence of this basis - the Warsaw Appellate Court 1)art. 12131 § 1 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The judgment of the arbitration court or the settlement concluded before it constitutes an enforceable title, which, after the enforcement clause has been granted, becomes an enforceable title authorizing the initiation of enforcement proceedings, and thus referral of the case to a court bailiff.
In the case of judgments issued by the Football Arbitration Court, the creditor also has other tools to increase the chances of voluntary performance of the obligation by the debtor, where by voluntary I mean the debtor's fulfillment of the obligation without the intervention of a bailiff. The methods listed below do not have to be an alternative to enforcement proceedings, as these actions can be processed independently of the ongoing enforcement.
Firstly, according to Article 104 of the Disciplinary Regulations of the Polish Football Association, failure to comply with the decisions of the Football Arbitration Court within 30 days from the date of finality constitutes a basis for holding the debtor accountable and imposing disciplinary sanctions. The amount of the penalty depends on whether the debtor is a football club or an individual (player, coach, football official, etc.). Individuals may face temporary suspension or exclusion from the PZPN, while clubs may face a monetary penalty of up to 100,000 PLN, a transfer ban, relegation to a lower league, temporary suspension or revocation of the license, or expulsion from the PZPN. To initiate disciplinary proceedings against an unscrupulous debtor, it is sufficient to inform the disciplinary body about the content of the issued judgment or settlement and declare that the resulting obligation has not been settled. Further actions in the matter will be taken by the appropriate disciplinary body of the association.
The enforcement of decisions of the football arbitration court is also within the scope of interest of the Licensing Commission. Both the Licensing Manual for Ekstraklasa clubs and the Licensing Manual for 1st League clubs impose a requirement on football clubs to settle all obligations arising from final judgments of the football arbitration court. Failure to meet this requirement may result in the denial of a license for the next season. Therefore, it is important to know that if our debtor is a football club playing in the Ekstraklasa or 1st League, the payment of the owed amount constitutes a condition for the club to obtain a license. Similar to initiating disciplinary proceedings, the action to be taken is to send the relevant information, with the recipient of the notification in this case being the League Commission.
For debtors who are entrepreneurs, actions provided for in the Bankruptcy and Reorganization Law can also be taken (for example, a petition for bankruptcy).
Therefore, the judgment of the football arbitration court can be enforced through enforcement proceedings, following the same principles as judgments of common courts, and additionally, the regulations of the football association include provisions that should "motivate" the debtor to fulfill the obligation.
Foto: Foter.com