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International Arbitration Forum

Yvette Félix v. Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)

Case summary

At a glance

Parties
Yvette Félix (Haiti) v. Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)
Case no.
CAS 2021/A/8244
Forum and rules
Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), appeal procedure under the Code of Sports-related Arbitration; hearings at the CAS seat in Lausanne
Treaty
Not a treaty case. The appeal was brought under Article 58(1) of the FIFA Statutes against a decision under Article 23 of the FIFA Code of Ethics.
Tribunal
Alexander McLin (President), Olivier Carrard, Alexis Schoeb
Sector
Football; sports governance; ethics discipline
Outcome
Appeal held admissible and upheld (4 December 2024). The FIFA Ethics Committee decision banning the appellant and fining her was annulled.
Amount
The annulled decision had imposed a five-year ban from all football-related activity and a fine of CHF 10,000. The costs rulings (operative points 4–5) are redacted in the published award.

The dispute

Yvette Félix had worked for the Haitian Football Federation (FHF) since 2006 as assistant coach and equipment manager at the National Technical Centre in Croix-des-Bouquets. In 2020, during its investigation of FHF president Yves Jean-Bart for alleged sexual abuse of female players, the FIFA Ethics Committee identified her as an alleged accomplice. The Adjudicatory Chamber found that she breached Article 23 of the FIFA Code of Ethics (protection of physical and mental integrity). It held that she took eleven players' passports in July 2020 on Jean-Bart's orders while he was provisionally banned, and that she let him into the Centre at night. It banned her for five years and fined her CHF 10,000. FIFA argued that the appeal was late because the decision had been notified by e-mail, through the FHF and by publication on FIFA's website. Ms Félix argued that she was never validly notified, that CAS award 2021/A/7661 clearing Jean-Bart barred the accomplice charges, and that the evidence against her was insufficient.

Key holdings

  1. No valid direct notification. The e-mail address used by FIFA was not shown to belong to the appellant or to have been given by her. FIFA had itself admitted in January 2021 that it could not reach her directly. The FHF Secretary General's account of delivery was inconsistent and not credible. ¶¶ 104–111
  2. Under Article 41(3) of the Code of Ethics, FIFA may notify directly or through the national federation. The four-day presumption of notification through the federation applies where direct notification did not happen or failed. It is rebuttable, and here it was rebutted because the FHF did not deliver the decision to the appellant or her husband. ¶¶ 118–125
  3. Publication on FIFA's website under Article 41(4) was not valid notification, because FIFA had the appellant's mobile number and did not show that service was impossible. Press coverage cannot cure defective notification. The appellant acted in good faith. The decision entered her sphere of control only on 28 July 2021, so the appeal filed on 18 August 2021 was within the 21-day time limit. ¶¶ 128–133
  4. The Jean-Bart award (CAS 2021/A/7661) does not bind the Panel. The parties and the subject matter differ, and only the operative part of an award has res judicata effect. The criminal-law rule that complicity requires an established principal offence does not transfer automatically to association discipline, and in any event the charges against the appellant concerned her own specific conduct. ¶¶ 157–163
  5. Breach of Article 23 not proven to the standard of comfortable satisfaction. The passport allegation failed: the meeting report bearing a disputed signature was ambiguous, Mr Guerrier could not be examined, and the players testified that they always had access to their passports. Victims A and B implicated only Jean-Bart. The claim that she helped Jean-Bart enter the Centre rested on rumour from former employees, and she did not hold the keys. ¶¶ 191–197
  6. The appeal is admissible and upheld, and the Ethics Committee decision is annulled. The operative part refers to that decision as dated 16 March 2021; elsewhere the award dates it 21 April 2021. ¶ 197; operative part

Procedural history

  1. 13 October 2020The Investigatory Chamber of the FIFA Ethics Committee provisionally bans the appellant for 90 days under Article 84 of the Code of Ethics.
  2. 21 April 2021The Adjudicatory Chamber finds a breach of Article 23 and imposes a five-year ban and a CHF 10,000 fine. The decision is sent to an e-mail address and to the FHF, and published on FIFA's website.
  3. 18 August 2021Statement of appeal filed with CAS.
  4. 26 January 2022Panel constituted: Alexander McLin (President), Olivier Carrard, Alexis Schoeb.
  5. 8 November 2022Preliminary hearing in Lausanne, limited to admissibility.
  6. 27 January 2023The Panel declares the appeal admissible, with reasons reserved for the award.
  7. 14 February 2023In the related case CAS 2021/A/7661, the CAS award annuls FIFA's decision against Yves Jean-Bart.
  8. 3 April 2023Hearing on the merits in Lausanne. The proceeding is suspended on 20 April 2023 pending FIFA's appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal in the Jean-Bart case.
  9. 28 June 2023The Swiss Federal Tribunal rejects FIFA's appeal against the Jean-Bart award. The suspension of this proceeding is lifted on 14 August 2023.
  10. 4 December 2024Award: appeal upheld and the Ethics Committee decision annulled.

Tribunal, counsel and experts

Decided by
For the claimant
Daria Solenik
For the respondent
FIFA Litigation Department
Experts
Thomas Probst (respondent)

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Keywords

Summary generated with AI from the published documents — refer to the award for the authoritative text.

Case ID
CAS 2021/A/8244
Claimant
Yvette Félix
Respondent
Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA)
Documents

Procedure: Appeal
Sport: Football
Matter: Disciplinary (except doping)
Outcome: Upheld
Panel: Olivier Carrard, Alexander McLin, Alexis Schoeb
Source: Court of Arbitration for Sport case database.