A LEGAL CRITIQUE OF THE EVOLUTION OF NATIONAL AND INTERNATIONAL SPORTS ARBITRATION: LESSONS FOR NIGERIA

Abstract

As sports disputes increasingly involve athletes, clubs, federations and sponsors from different countries, national and international dispute resolution mechanisms face rising demands for speed, expertise and legitimacy. This article undertakes a legal critique of the evolution of national and international sports arbitration, focusing on Nigeria. It examines the conceptual foundations of sports disputes and sports arbitration, before mapping Nigeria's legal and institutional framework, including the Constitution, the Arbitration and Mediation Act 2023, and the Nigeria Football Federation Statutes 2010, against the structure and practice of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Employing a doctrinal methodology, the article evaluates documented Nigerian sports disputes, from the unenforced Warri Wolves FC award to the 2025/2026 Super Eagles bonus crisis, and situates Nigeria's practice within a comparative study of the United Kingdom, South Africa, the United States, India and China. It finds that Nigeria's difficulty is not an absence of law: its Constitution, arbitration legislation and football statutes already provide the necessary architecture. What Nigeria has never done is establish the National Dispute Resolution Chamber that article 68 of the NFF Statutes has required since 2010, leaving disputes to escape into ordinary courts, ad hoc political mediation, or foreign institutions. Comparative evidence, particularly China's construction of a domestic sports arbitration commission within a single year, confirms this gap is solvable once political will exists. The article recommends the immediate establishment of the Chamber, replacement of the outdated 1971 Sports Commission Decree, and clearer protocols linking domestic awards to enforcement before the National Industrial Court.