– Press release –

Paris, 7 April 2015 –Jeantet, lead counsel of the Royal Moroccan Football Federation (FRMF) in the dispute between the FRMF and the Confederation of African Football (CAF), welcomes the ruling handed down on 2 April by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne.

“We are particularly satisfied with this decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, which overturned the main financial and sporting sanctions against the Royal Moroccan Football Federation. Morocco is now free to participate in the Africa Cup of Nations. We are very pleased about this, as we have developed strong relations with the country since opening our office there in 2009,” declared the firm’s management board.
Morocco had been selected to host the Africa Cup of Nations in January and February 2015, and they had made the appropriate preparations within the agreed time frames. In October 2014, they requested that the tournament be postponed due to the rapid spread of the Ebola virus, which had already claimed the lives of almost 5,000 people in West Africa. The health risk associated with mass gatherings, highlighted by the World Health Organization, justified this request in the best interest of public health.
However, the CAF decided to relocate the 2015 tournament away from Morocco and to disqualify the Moroccan national team. It then imposed a number of sporting and financial sanctions on the federation. The federation then submitted the case to the CAS who, on 2 April 2015, overturned the suspension that banned the national team from participating in the 2017 and 2019 tournaments. Morocco is now free to take part in these competitions.

The CAS also reduced the fine imposed upon the federation from $1 million to $50,000. It also cancelled the €8 million in compensation that the federation had been ordered to pay.

Jeantet, with Michel Boyon, Yves Repiquet, Laurent Sablé, Youssef Hassouni, Paul Cocchiello, Lucie Mongin-Archambeaud, Benoît Descours, Mohamed Ali Khelil Charef, Sophia Hajoui, in Paris and Casablanca, together with Seydou Diagne, lawyer at the Dakar bar, Jorge Ibarrola and Claude Ramoni, lawyers at the Vaud bar, and Habib Cissé, lawyer at the Paris bar, welcome the overturning of a sanction that caused serious harm to the whole Moroccan nation.

For four generations of lawyers, JeantetAssociés has advised companies, financial institutions and management in strategic areas of business law in connection with transactions and complex high added-value cases both as corporate, litigation and public affairs counsel. The strength of the JeantetAssociés name is the result of a constant striving for independence, an unfailing international outlook and an ongoing ability to play a leading role on the economic and legal scene.
With offices in Paris, Casablanca, Luxemburg and Genève, JeantetAssociés has a total headcount of nearly  150 people, including   100 lawyers, 29 of whom are partners, principally involved in the following main areas of practice : Banking and Finance – Capital markets – Competition and EU law – General business litigation and arbitration – Corporate M&A – Public law and project finance – Labour law and French Employment Protection Scheme – Energy, Mining and Infrastructure – Family businesses (JeantetFamily) –  Entertainment/TMT – Tax – Company governance – Real Estate – Institutions and Financial Services  – Public Affairs and Lobbying – Private Equity – Criminal liability of companies and managers – Restructuring –

Press contacts:
JeantetAssociés Anne-Laure de La Rivière. Tél : 01 45 05 80 08 – adelariviere@jeantet.fr
OZINFOS Xavier Roc Tél : 01 42 85 47 27 –
www.jeantet.fr –  info@jeantet.fr