If a dispute should be handled by domestically, either by ordinary courts or domestic sports tribunals or by international sports tribunals, such as FIFA’s football tribunals, will primarily depend on whether the dispute has an international dimension. Many national football associations have established domestic sports arbitration systems, handling domestic sports related disputes, i.e. where all the parties to the dispute are based in the same country. A football dispute with an international dimension will normally be handled by FIFAs football tribunals.

A cheaper, faster and less risky alternative to court proceedings and arbitration is sports mediation. Through sports mediation, it will be possible to achieve good solutions also in cases that involve several parties and have a high level of complexity.

Nationally and internationally, sport has been given a high degree of autonomy. As long as the sport operates within a certain set of frames, the sport itself can decide which rules should apply in the field of sport and establish bodies that deal with violations of sports regulations and sports-related disputes. Sports-related disputes arising from a contract, e.g. related to player contracts, sponsorship contracts or media rights, may be processed by the various arbitration tribunals of the sport in question.