Jurisdiction(s):
United Kingdom

EWHC implies horizontal arbitration agreement between FA Participants; section 9 stay granted in Alrubie v Chelsea FC, despite director ceasing office

Published on: 07 April 2025

Published by a LexisNexis Arbitration expert

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Article summary

Alrubie v Chelsea Football Club Ltd and another [2025] EWHC 541 (Comm)

What are the practical implications of this case?

This decision will particularly interest arbitration practitioners and professionals working in sports clubs, and could equally concern other organisations whose members are controlled by association rules. Commonly, those participating in professional sports clubs accept, by reason of their membership, that they are bound by the club’s rulebook and by the regulations of any national and worldwide governing bodies. Such regimes routinely incorporate arbitration agreements, owing in part to the confidentiality of arbitral proceedings, which protects against undesirable public attention, and in part to the ability to appoint arbitrators with specialist knowledge of the sport’s rules and industry practices. The case clarifies that these rules may have ‘horizontal’ contractual effect between members, as well as ‘vertical’ effect between each member and the governing body, notwithstanding the absence of any express bilateral agreement between members. It underlines how membership-based governance can, through the acceptance of rulebooks, generate binding obligations that regulate inter-member relations, while simultaneously structuring the relationship between individuals and the sport’s authorities, without the need for separate, expressly negotiated formal contracts...

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