Frequently Asked Qestions about FAT


1. What is the Standard Arbitration Clause?
"Any dispute arising from or related to the present contract shall be submitted to the FIBA Arbitral Tribunal (FAT) in Geneva, Switzerland and shall be resolved in accordance with the FAT Arbitration Rules by a single arbitrator appointed by the FAT President.
The seat of the arbitration shall be Geneva, Switzerland.
The arbitration shall be governed by Chapter 12 of the Swiss Act on Private International Law (PIL), irrespective of the parties' domicile.
The language of the arbitration shall be English.
Awards of the FAT can be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), Lausanne, Switzerland. The parties expressly waive recourse to the Swiss Federal Tribunal against awards of the FAT and against decisions of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) upon appeal, as provided in Article 192 of the Swiss Act on Private International Law.
The arbitrator and CAS upon appeal shall decide the dispute ex aequo et bono."

2.    What kind of disputes can be brought before FAT?
Any dispute arising in the world of basketball with regard to which the parties have signed an arbitration agreement in favour of FAT (see standard clause in 0.3 of the FAT Rules).

3.    What do I have to do to put a FAT arbitration in motion?
File a Request for Arbitration (download Template for Request for Arbitration) as per 9.1 of the FAT Rules with FIBA (6.1) and pay the non-reimbursable handling fee of EUR 3,000 (19.1).
The arbitration will not proceed until the fee is received in the FIBA account (19.1).

4.    What are the costs of a FAT arbitration?
The Arbitrator will fix an advance on costs based, inter alia, on the monetary value of the dispute and the complexity of the case to be paid in equal shares by both parties (9.3). Without full payment the arbitration will not proceed.

5.    What if a party fails to pay its share of the costs?
After the exchange of the Request for Arbitration and the Answer, the Arbitrator will fix an advance on costs to be paid in equal shares by both parties into the FAT bank account. If one of the parties fails to pay its share, the other party may substitute for it so that the arbitration can proceed. (9.3)

6.    Who will decide the dispute?
A single arbitrator appointed by the FAT President (8.1). The profiles of the FAT arbi-trators can be found under "FIBA Arbitral Tribunal Composition (FAT President and FAT Arbitrators)".

7.    How do the parties submit their motions?
In general, the arbitration procedure will be conducted in writing. Hearings will be held only upon request (13.1).

8.    How long does a FAT arbitration take?
The Award will be delivered no later than six weeks after completion of the arbitral proceedings (16.2).

9.    How are FAT awards enforced?
FAT awards (once final after a possible appeal, 17.) are enforceable like any other arbitral award; in most countries the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards will apply http://www.uncitral.org/uncitral/en/uncitral_texts/arbitration/NYConvention.html.
FAT is unable to assist in the enforcement.
Parties failing to honour a final FAT award may be sanctioned by FIBA (cf. L.2.7 of the FIBA Internal Regulations). Parties seeking FIBA ac-tion must file a request with FIBA.

What do I have to provide under "Request for Relief"?
The Request for Relief shall contain a detailed analysis of all the amounts claimed (salaries, bonuses, compensation, interest, reimbursement of legal and other costs etc) and/or any other Claimant's request from the Tribunal.