CAS Rejects King Faisal’s Request for Stay of Execution in Dispute with GFA
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has turned down an application from King Faisal Football Club to suspend the Ghana Football Association’s (GFA) Congress resolutions, dealing the Kumasi-based side an early blow in their legal battle.
In a decision issued on October 1, 2025, Mrs. Corinne Schmidhauser, President of the CAS Appeals Arbitration Division, dismissed the Division One League club’s plea to halt the enforcement of decisions taken at the GFA’s Ordinary Congress held on August 12, 2025.
The CAS ruling read:
“The request for a stay of execution filed by King Faisal FC on 1 September 2025 in the matter CAS 2025/A/11757 King Faisal FC v. Ghana Football Association (GFA) is denied.
The costs of the present Order shall be determined in the final award or any other final disposition of this arbitration.”
King Faisal had petitioned CAS after challenging the validity of the August Congress, insisting that the event was unconstitutional because the GFA proceeded despite being served with an injunction notice.
Through their lawyers, Evans Adika Law, the club alleged several breaches, including a shortened notice period without members’ approval, failure to disclose conflicts of interest, bundling of unrelated issues for a single vote, refusal to conduct a poll after a show of hands, and external interference in decision-making.
The former Premier League outfit is pressing for broad reliefs, asking CAS to annul the August Congress resolutions, bar the GFA from implementing them, and compel reforms to align the association’s governance structure with national statutes.
Although the stay of execution has been denied, the arbitration on the substantive issues will proceed in Lausanne, Switzerland. For now, the GFA Congress resolutions remain in full effect until CAS delivers a final verdict.
