CAS Case Digest · Verified against the full award text

CAS 2024/A/10543 — Andrianirina Rajomazandri v. Malagasy Football Federation (FMF)

"Rajomazandri" · CAS annulled a two-year match suspension imposed by FMF's Executive Committee on a Madagascan footballer for incompetence, procedural unfairness, and lack of reasoning.

What happened in Rajomazandri

Andrianirina Rajomazandri, a professional Madagascan footballer, signed with AS Fanalamanga in September 2022 for one year. After his contract expired in September 2023, he joined Fosa Juniors Club in October 2023, was registered by the FMF in January 2024, and played his first official match on 20 January 2024. On 16 February 2024, the FMF Director of Competitions suspended him pending an amicable resolution between his former and new clubs. On 9 April 2024, the FMF Executive Committee issued Decision 005/FMF/24 suspending the Player for two years from all official matches and prohibiting him from affiliating with any FMF-registered club, without providing any reasons. The Player appealed to CAS on 30 April 2024. The FMF failed to respond to the appeal, document production orders, or provisional measures requests. CAS granted provisional measures on 2 July 2024. The Sole Arbitrator annulled the suspension, finding: the Executive Committee lacked competence to impose disciplinary sanctions (reserved to the Disciplinary Committee under Articles 45–46 of FMF Statutes); no violation by the Player was established; the Player's right to be heard was violated; the decision contained no legal reasoning; and the FMF's non-compliance with document production orders warranted an adverse inference. The case matters as a clear statement that national federation executive bodies cannot usurp disciplinary jurisdiction and must respect due process.

Procedural history of CAS 2024/A/10543

On 9 April 2024, the FMF Executive Committee issued Decision 005/FMF/24 suspending the Player for two years from all official FMF matches and prohibiting club affiliation during that period, without providing reasons. The decision was notified to the Appellant on 10 April 2024. The Appellant filed a Statement of Appeal with CAS on 30 April 2024, within the 21-day time limit under Article R49 of the Code and Article 57 of the FIFA Statutes. The Appellant requested expedited procedure and document production; the FMF failed to respond to either. On 13 June 2024, the Appellant applied for provisional measures under Article 37 of the Code; the Deputy Division President granted the application on 2 July 2024. The ICAS Athletes' Commission granted legal aid on 31 July 2024. The Sole Arbitrator was appointed on 13 August 2024. The FMF failed to file an Answer to the Appeal Brief, comply with document production orders, sign the Order of Procedure, or respond to multiple CAS follow-up letters. The Sole Arbitrator decided the case on written submissions alone.

Key holdings in CAS 2024/A/10543

• The FMF Executive Committee was not competent to issue a two-year match suspension; such disciplinary decisions fall exclusively within the jurisdiction of the FMF Disciplinary Committee under Articles 45 and 46 of the FMF Statutes.
• No evidence established that the Player committed any violation in connection with his transfer from Fanalamanga to Fosa Juniors, and his registration with Fosa was valid.
• The Respondent violated the Appellant's fundamental right to be heard by imposing a two-year suspension without inviting the Player to any hearing or notifying him of the charges against him.
• A disciplinary decision that contains no legal reasoning and fails to identify the specific provision under which a sanction is imposed is procedurally unfair and its validity is undermined.
• A party's unexplained failure to comply with a CAS document production order gives rise to an adverse inference that the withheld documents would be adverse to that party's interests.

How the CAS panel reasoned

The Sole Arbitrator applied the FMF Statutes as the primary applicable law under Article R58 of the Code. On competence, he compared Article 40 of the FMF Statutes (Executive Committee powers) with Articles 45–46 (Disciplinary Committee jurisdiction over internal rule violations including match suspensions) and found the Executive Committee had no authority to impose the sanction. On the merits, the FMF's complete silence — no Answer, no response to document production orders, no explanation of the alleged violation — left the record devoid of any justification for the suspension. The Sole Arbitrator drew an adverse inference from the FMF's non-compliance with the production order, consistent with CAS 2015/A/3883 and CAS 2004/A/645. On due process, he found the Player was never informed of specific charges, never invited to a hearing, and never provided with the reasons for the decision, violating the fundamental right to be heard recognised in CAS 2012/A/2740. The absence of any identified legal provision in the decision, despite its citation of multiple regulatory frameworks, rendered the sanction arbitrary. The Appellant was found to have discharged his burden of proof under the standard articulated in CAS 2009/A/1909.

Why Rajomazandri matters in CAS jurisprudence

This award reinforces that national football federation executive committees cannot exercise disciplinary jurisdiction reserved by statute to dedicated disciplinary bodies, and that any disciplinary sanction imposed without a hearing, without stated charges, and without legal reasoning will be annulled by CAS. The award also confirms that persistent non-compliance with CAS document production orders generates adverse inferences capable of undermining the legitimacy of the challenged decision, strengthening procedural accountability of member federations.

Cases cited in this award

CAS 2022/A/2586 CAS 2021/A/8371 CAS 2012/A/2740 CAS 2020/A/6920 CAS 2015/A/3883 CAS 2009/A/1909

Frequently asked questions about Rajomazandri

Why did CAS annul the FMF's two-year suspension of Rajomazandri?

CAS annulled Decision 005/FMF/24 on four cumulative grounds: the FMF Executive Committee lacked competence under Article 40 of the FMF Statutes to impose match suspensions (reserved to the Disciplinary Committee under Articles 45–46); no violation by the Player was established; the Player's right to be heard was never respected; and the decision contained no legal reasoning identifying the specific provision breached.

Was Rajomazandri's registration with Fosa Juniors valid when the FMF suspended him?

Yes. The FMF itself confirmed the Player's registration with Fosa Juniors on 18 January 2024, and the Player played his first official match for Fosa on 20 January 2024 in the Quarter Finals of the Telma Cup of Madagascar 2023. The Sole Arbitrator found no evidence of any violation in connection with the transfer and held the registration was valid.

What adverse inference did CAS draw from the FMF's failure to produce documents in the Rajomazandri case?

The Sole Arbitrator, relying on CAS 2015/A/3883 and CAS 2004/A/645, inferred that the withheld documents would have been adverse to the FMF's interests. The FMF failed to respond to multiple document production orders delivered by DHL and email, and this non-compliance, without reasonable excuse, was treated as undermining the legitimacy of the suspension.

Can an FMF Executive Committee decision that says it 'is not subject to appeal' actually be appealed to CAS?

Yes. The Sole Arbitrator held that Article 48 of the FMF Statutes — which provides that any final and binding decision may be appealed to CAS in accordance with Articles 59 and 60 of the FIFA Statutes — overrides the no-appeal clause in Decision 005/FMF/24. The FMF did not contest CAS jurisdiction, and the appeal filed on 30 April 2024 was found admissible within the 21-day time limit.

Topics: Doping, ethics & governance at CAS

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