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Part 2 · Section 6 of 10
A case from start to finish
When a court can step in
By the end of this section you can say what an English court can and cannot do with a football body’s decision, and why the court is a check on the process, not a second appeal.
In one screen
When can a court intervene, and why is it not a second appeal?
The courts check an arbitration's jurisdiction and regularity. They do not re-decide it: the Rules exclude any appeal on a point of law.
A club that sues first is sent back to arbitration, and going beyond the High Court needs the High Court's permission.
Can a club go to court first?
No. The Rules send “all disputes” to arbitration, so a club that sues instead will be stopped: the court “shall grant a stay” unless the arbitration agreement is void, inoperative or incapable of being performed (Arbitration Act 1996, s.9). The Arbitration Act 1996’s starting point is that the court “should not intervene except as provided” (section 1(c) of the Act). The Act in the glossary.
The League’s own clause has been tested. In Fulham v Richards [2011] EWCA Civ 855 a shareholder petition against the League and its chairman was stayed: “all disputes”, the Court of Appeal said, “mean what they say”.
What can a court review?
The process, not the answer. Under the Arbitration Act 1996 an arbitral award can be challenged in the High Court for lack of jurisdiction (section 67 of the Act) or for serious irregularity causing substantial injustice (section 68) — within 28 days, and only after any arbitral appeal or review has run its course (section 70).
The one route that would let a court correct the law — the appeal on a point of law under section 69 of the Arbitration Act 1996 — is shut. The Rules exclude it in terms (X.37The award is final; no appeal on law2022/23: X.37, p.146 ↗2026/27: X.50, p.166 ↗“There shall be no right of appeal on a point of law under section 69 of the Act.” (2022/23)Final, subject only to the Arbitration Act 1996, ss.67 to 71; the appeal on a point of law (s.69) is excluded.All rules, both editions → in 2022/23, X.50 in 2026/27). If the arbitrators got the law wrong but stayed within their jurisdiction and committed no serious irregularity, the award stands.
The courts keep the same distance from sports bodies generally. They will not judicially review them (Aga Khan [1992] EWCA Civ 7), and where they do supervise one, their job “is not to take the primary decision but to ensure that the primary decision-maker has operated within lawful limits” (Bradley v Jockey Club [2004] EWHC 2164 (QB)).
Check yourself
A club thinks a Section XThe arbitration part of the Premier League's Rules. It reviews a disciplinary decision on five narrow grounds, not as a second appeal. award rests on a wrong reading of the Rules. Can the High Court put it right?
Which court, and why that one?
“The court” is not one place. The Arbitration Act 1996 defines it as the High Court or the county court (section 105), and a claim to challenge an award is started by an arbitration claim form (CPR 62.3(1)). The High Court has a specialist Commercial Court that hears arbitration claims; City’s 2021 challenge is reported as [2021] EWHC 628 (Comm), where “Comm” marks that court. Each step below names the court that hears it and why.
| Step | Court | Why that court |
|---|---|---|
| A club sues instead of arbitrating; the other side asks for a stay | The court where the claim was started | An application to stay under section 9 of the Arbitration Act 1996 is made to the court dealing with those proceedings (CPR 62.3(2)) |
| Challenge an award for lack of jurisdiction or serious irregularity | The High Court (in practice, its Commercial Court) | The Arbitration Act defines “the court” as the High Court or county court (section 105); arbitration claims can be heard in the Commercial Court (CPR 62.1(3)) |
| Appeal that High Court decision | The Court of Appeal, but only if the High Court gives leave | Section 68(4) of the Arbitration Act 1996 makes the High Court the gatekeeper; if it refuses, the Court of Appeal has no power to grant permission or review the refusal ([2021] EWCA Civ 1110) |
| Go beyond the Court of Appeal | The Supreme Court | The top of the court ladder; the road starts with the High Court saying yes |
| Enforce an award like a judgment | The court, by leave | Section 66 of the Arbitration Act 1996 |
| Ask a court to review a private sports body's decision as public law | Refused: judicial review is not available | Aga Khan [1992] EWCA Civ 7: the Jockey Club, and the FA, are domestic bodies whose powers arise in private law only |
Can the case go higher?
Only if the High Court lets it. Appealing a High Court decision on a section 67 or section 68 challenge under the Arbitration Act 1996 needs “the leave of the court”, and “the court” there means the High Court. If it refuses, the Court of Appeal cannot grant permission or review the refusal, as it restated in [2021] EWCA Civ 1110. The road to the Supreme Court starts with the High Court saying yes.
A court can also give an award teeth: it “may, by leave of the court, be enforced in the same manner as a judgment”, unless the tribunal lacked jurisdiction (section 66 of the Arbitration Act 1996).
Which version of the Act applies can matter. The Arbitration Act 2025 amended ss.67 and 70 from 1 August 2025, but not for arbitrations begun before then (2025 Act, s.17). A Section XThe arbitration part of the Premier League's Rules. It reviews a disciplinary decision on five narrow grounds, not as a second appeal. arbitration begins when the request is served, so one begun now falls under the amended Act. Whether a Commission’s own proceedings count as arbitration no judgment we have read decides.
Check yourself
The High Court dismisses a club's s.68 challenge and refuses permission to appeal. Can the club ask the Court of Appeal instead?
A challenge to an award and an appeal in the civil courts, side by side
Side by side
What a court will and will not do
Step 1: What can be argued
Challenge to a Section X award
Lack of jurisdiction, or serious irregularity causing substantial injustice (Arbitration Act 1996, sections 67 and 68). Not an error of law: section 69 is excluded (X.37).
Appeal in the civil courts
That the decision of the lower court was “wrong”, or “unjust because of a serious procedural or other irregularity” (CPR 52.21(3)). So being wrong is itself a ground, which it is not under Section X.
Step 2: The time limit
Challenge to a Section X award
28 days from the applicable date (Arbitration Act 1996, section 70(3)).
Appeal in the civil courts
21 days from the decision, or as the lower court directs (CPR 52.12(2)).
Step 3: Before you can go to court
Challenge to a Section X award
You must first use any arbitral appeal or review, and any correction of the award (section 70(2)).
Appeal in the civil courts
Permission to appeal, from the lower court or the appeal court (CPR 52.3).
Step 4: How far the court looks
Challenge to a Section X award
The process and the tribunal’s power, not the merits.
Appeal in the civil courts
Normally a review of the decision, and a rehearing only if the court thinks it in the interests of justice (CPR 52.21(1)).
Step 5: What the court can do
Challenge to a Section X award
Confirm, vary, remit the award to the tribunal, or set it aside in whole or part (Arbitration Act 1996, section 67 and 68).
Appeal in the civil courts
Allow or dismiss the appeal and make orders the lower court could have made.
Step 6: Going further
Challenge to a Section X award
Only with the High Court’s leave (section 68(4)).
Appeal in the civil courts
Generally with permission, to the next court up.
The civil column is the general position in England and Wales, not a statement about any particular case.
As at 2026-10-07. Rules are cited by Premier League Handbook edition and rule number; decisions and judgments by date and paragraph; commentary is attributed and never stated as the law. probative.io is a research and investigations practice, not a law firm, and does not provide legal advice; nothing here is a view on any particular matter.