Sports Corporations: Temporary Suspension

The Federal Court of Mercedes issued a preliminary injunction ordering to suspend the application of Emergency Decree 70/2023 and its Regulatory Decree 730/2024 in matters of sports corporations.

The Argentine Football Association (AFA) obtained a preliminary injunction to suspend the application of articles 335 and 345 of the Emergency Decree and articles 2 and 5 of its Regulatory Decree, which essentially provide:

1. that the affiliation of a sports organization to an association, league, confederation, federation, or union may not be hindered on the basis of its legal form,
2. a deadline of one year for associations, federations, and confederations to amend their bylaws to include the modifications in the emergency decree.

The main consequences of this preliminary injunction are:

• A higher court will have to decide on the constitutionality of the relevant parts of the emergency decree and its regulatory decree, the application of articles 335 and 345 of the emergency decree, and of articles 2 and 5 of the regulatory decree. Until then, these articles are temporarily suspended.

• AFA—temporarily and until the preliminary injunction is revoked or a final judgment is issued—will not have to move forward with the amendment of its bylaws and it will not be obliged to admit as affiliates sports organizations that are not structured as civil associations (a current requirement in the AFA bylaws).