A dispute over the shares, governance or assets of a sports club is a legal conflict like the struggle around any other legal person — and Georgia has no special court or statutory regime for such disputes in sport. This page explains the legal form the club and the federation carry under the Law on Sport, why their ownership disputes run through the general rules, and which norms create the frame within which those disputes are decided.
The Framework: The Legal Form of Sports Organisations
Under the eighth article of the Law on Sport, a public or other non-state sports organisation is a sports federation, association, club or other union that aims at the development of sport. The state fosters the development of these organisations' activity and involves them in the governance of sport; where necessary, the Ministry of Education, Science, Culture and Sport may transfer individual powers to them and control their exercise. Under the same article these organisations conduct their activity in accordance with the law and other normative acts in force in the sphere of sport. From this it follows that questions of ownership of a club or federation are decided by the general rules attaching to the relevant legal form: the sporting specificity shapes the frame but does not transform the disputed relationships. An investor buying into a club, a founder challenging a resolution or a member contesting expulsion all stand on the same civil-law ground they would occupy outside sport.
The Federation's Structure and Governance
Article 10 defines the status of the national sports federation of Georgia: it is a non-commercial legal person of private law established on the basis of the Civil Code, conducting its activity in accordance with the law, other normative acts, international sports federations and its own statutes. The federation is the sole governing body in the respective kind of sport and represents that sport both inside the country and abroad; its status is granted to the association whose founding documents satisfy the requirements of Georgian legislation and of the relevant international federation, and its competence extends over the whole territory of Georgia. Among the governance rules, note that the supreme body of the federation is the assembly, at least three quarters of whose members must be represented by sports organisations, and that the president may be a citizen of Georgia with higher education, high reputation and no criminal record. These requirements are precisely the points on which disputes most often turn: the composition of the assembly, the legality of the vote and the powers of the president. A challenge to a federation resolution therefore usually proceeds along two lines at once — the statutory line, testing the decision against the federation's own statutes, and the statutory-regulatory line, testing it against the composition and eligibility rules the law itself prescribes.
The Status of the Club
Under Article 11, a sports club is a legal person that conducts its activity in accordance with the law, the legislation in force and its own statutes. The status of a club is granted to the organisation whose founding documents satisfy the requirements of Georgian legislation and of the relevant national sports federation — which means that a club's existence rests on recognition by the federation, and amendments to its statutes must remain compatible with the federation's requirements. The same article provides that the club's leadership holds the preferential right to present its members for transfer with the consent of the national sports federation — a rule that builds the club's position on a membership relationship rather than ownership of a player, and that gives the federation's consent decisive weight even in transfer-related disputes. For an ownership dispute this matters twice over: first, because the club's statutory foundation can be contested through the federation-recognition route, and second, because the value over which the parties fight is partly constituted by rights the club holds only inside the federative system.
How an Ownership Dispute Is Resolved
Because the club and the federation are ordinary legal persons, disputes over their shares, assets or governance are decided by the general rules attaching to the relevant organisational-legal form — the founding documents, the rules of private law and, ultimately, the court. The Law on Sport fills this process with the frame described above: the statutory requirements of conformity with the federation, the rule on the composition of the assembly and the conditions for granting status. The general liability rule is set by the twenty-eighth article of the law: violation of its requirement entails liability in accordance with the legislation of Georgia. That clause can attach both to decisions of governing bodies and to the actions of persons who attempt to escalate a dispute by unlawful means — from forged assembly minutes to the violent seizure of premises — and it is the hook on which the losing side's procedural misconduct is answered.
Does a special court exist for sports clubs?
No — the law creates no special court for ownership disputes; they are decided under the general rules and by the court, within the federative statutory frame.
Who grants a club its status?
Status is granted to the organisation whose founding documents satisfy the requirements of the legislation and of the relevant national federation.
Why does the composition of the assembly matter?
The supreme body of the federation is the assembly, at least three quarters of whose members must be represented by sports organisations — a violation of this rule undermines the validity of governance decisions.
May a player be sold without the federation's consent?
No — the club's leadership presents its members for transfer only with the consent of the national sports federation.
How We Help on Legal.ge
The Legal.ge team supports clubs, federations, governing bodies and investors in ownership and governance disputes. We review founding documents and statutes for conformity with the law, assess the legality of assemblies and votes, prepare the claim or the defence position and represent your interests. Contact us for a consultation — we will assess your situation and tell you which steps will protect your position in the dispute.