Sports Law 2025

BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Sven Demeulemeester, Willem-Alexander Devlies and Daan Buylaert, ATFiELD

Football governance codes The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) enforces governance rules, including financial transparency, ethical conduct and licensing requirements. Consequences of Non-Compliance Failure to comply with governance requirements can result in the following. • Loss of recognition or funding – non-compli - ant federations or clubs risk losing subsidies and official recognition from governing bod - ies. • Licensing sanctions – in professional football, non-compliance with financial and govern - ance rules can result in clubs being denied a professional licence. • Legal and financial penalties – organisations violating financial and ethical standards may face fines, legal action or administrative pen - alties. Other Relevant Rules: Owners and Directors’ Tests Certain sports impose fit-and-proper tests for club owners and directors, particularly in profes - sional football. • RBFA Licensing Rules – these rules require club owners and directors to meet ethical and legal integrity criteria. • Financial Sustainability Regulations – clubs must demonstrate financial stability to partici - pate in national and European competitions. Duties of Officers in Belgian Sports Organisations Officers and directors of Belgian sports organi - sations are expected to:

• act in good faith and loyalty – directors owe fiduciary duties to act in the best interests of the organisation and its stakeholders; • ensure financial integrity – this requires responsibility for maintaining financial trans - parency and avoiding mismanagement; and • comply with governance regulations – the statutory and federation-imposed rules must be adhered to. Penalties for Insolvency in Sports Organisations If a Belgian sports organisation, particularly a professional club, faces insolvency, then con - sequences may include: • points deduction – football clubs facing bank - ruptcy or financial mismanagement may be penalised with a points deduction; • relegation or expulsion – clubs failing to meet financial licensing requirements risk relegation or expulsion from competitions; and • judicial reorganisation – clubs may enter judi - cial reorganisation to restructure debt while continuing operations under court supervi - sion. 4.3 Funding of Sport Sources of Sports Funding in Belgium Sports in Belgium receive funding from multiple sources, including the following. Government funding The federal government, regional governments (Flanders, Wallonia and Brussels), and local municipalities allocate budgets to sports devel - opment. The Ministry of Sport in each region pro - vides subsidies to sports federations, grassroots initiatives and high-performance programmes.

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