Sporting Disputes Coming To Dublin

While the nation ceases to hold its breath off the back of a cruel exit from World Cup Qualifiers in Prague, incoming changes to UEFA’s Statutes mean that the football world will likely have all eyes on Dublin in the not-so-distant future.

In February 2026, UEFA held their 50^th Ordinary Congress which saw a number of amendments approved to their statutes¹. One amendment of particular interest is to Article 63(2) in relation to Procedure and Applicable Law, where UEFA have decided to name Dublin as a seat for arbitration proceedings before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (“CAS”)².

Previous inclusion of Dublin in UEFA Authorisation Rules

UEFA have Authorisation Rules which govern international club competitions³ - essentially meaning that competitions need UEFA approval before they can commence. Most notably these came under scrutiny during the controversially proposed European Super League, which was ultimately escalated to the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”).