Translator：Wang Qiyu

Shanghai Landing Law Offices (referred to as "Landing" below) has been entrusted by a domestic CBA basketball club (referred to as the "Club" below) to defend against an arbitration case brought before the FIBA Basketball Arbitral Tribunal (BAT) by a U.S. player and their U.S. agent. Landing recently received a successful award decision from BAT. The case was led by Partner Zhang Bing and assisted by Lawyer Xue Ni.

In 2019, the Club signed a player employment contract with a U.S. player. Due to the player's performance not meeting the Club's requirements, the Club terminated the player's employment contract and declined to pay subsequent salaries. The player and their U.S. agent filed an arbitration application with BAT last year, demanding payment of player salaries and agent fees based on the player's submitted employment contract and its annex. The dispute involved an amount exceeding three million U.S. dollars.

The core disputes in this case were the validity of the annex attached to the player's submitted employment contract and whether BAT had jurisdiction over the case. Landing formulated defense strategies for the Club, collected and translated relevant evidence, drafted the defense statement, and conducted three rounds of written responses. Landing challenged BAT's jurisdiction based on relevant contract terms and provided strong evidentiary support against the validity of the player's submitted contract annex and its evidentiary chain. Additionally, Landing submitted supporting evidence concerning the effective termination of the player's employment contract by the Club. On April 27, 2021, Landing received a victory award decision from BAT. The tribunal dismissed all claims of the applicant and ordered them to bear all arbitration costs and reasonable legal fees of the Club.

Introduction to FIBA Basketball Arbitral Tribunal (BAT)

FIBA Basketball Arbitral Tribunal is an independent international sports arbitration institution established by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) in Geneva, Switzerland, in 2006. It provides dispute resolution services for basketball players, agents, coaches, and clubs. According to FIBA's internal regulations, refusing to enforce BAT arbitration decisions may result in penalties imposed by FIBA, including fines, revocation of FIBA agent licenses, prohibition of international player transfers, or prevention of new player registrations for clubs. BAT's arbitration decisions are final and cannot be appealed to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

Introduction to Landing

Shanghai Landing Law Offices is a rapidly growing comprehensive law firm that adheres to the development philosophy of "absolute specialization, strong internationalization, and relative scalability." It is dedicated to providing high-quality and efficient all-around legal services to domestic and international clients. Landing's headquarters are located in Shanghai, China, with multiple branches or branch offices established domestically and internationally. It has branches in cities such as Jinan, Changsha, Urumqi, Lanzhou, Shenzhen, Beijing, Xi'an, Taiyuan, Fuzhou, Wenzhou, Zhengzhou, Nanning, Hangzhou, Kunming, and Hefei in China, and has branches in the United States (Los Angeles), Singapore, India, Indonesia, Bangladesh, the Philippines, Nepal, Nigeria, and Vietnam (Hanoi, Nha Trang), Japan (Tokyo, Osaka, Sapporo), and Thailand (Bangkok) abroad. It has become one of the Chinese law firms with the widest layout in developing countries along the "Belt and Road," and its branches and branch offices continue to expand rapidly.