ECA decision on the Loke case

The EHF Court of Arbitration (ECA) has announced its decision on the transfer case of Frank Loke. The ECA confirmed the decision of the EHF Arbitration Tribunal dated 30 September 2009.

As it was published earlier, the Norwegian player signed employment contracts with two clubs: Skjern Handbold A/S (DEN) and HC Croatia Osiguranje-Zagreb (CRO). The administration of the European Handball Federation validated the transfer to the Croatian club.

On 4 September the Danish Handball Association turned to the EHF Arbitration Tribunal in order to get a decision on the transfer rights of the player. The EHF Arbitration Tribunal dealt with the case and made the following decision: the contract HC Croatia Osiguranje-Zagreb was valid according to the applicable IHF/EHF Transfer Regulations therefore the transfer rights of the player remained with the Croatian club. In addition, Frank Loke was suspended from all international club competitions for a period of nine months and was fined €10,000.

Following the EHF Arbitration Tribunal decision, the Danish Handball Federation filed a claim to the ECA with regards to the transfer rights of the player.

The ECA in their decision, announced on 24 March 2010, rejected the claim of the Danish Handball Association due to a lack of material evidence and confirmed that the transfer rights of Frank Loke were correctly transferred to the Croatian Handball Federation before the beginning of the season.

The ECA decision is final and binding between the parties.

EHF Court of Arbitration

The ECA is the highest level legal body in European handball. The organisation is an independent court of arbitration recognised by the EHF.

The ECA procedures are dealt with by arbitrators chosen by the parties involved in the disputes out of a pool of arbitrators nominated by the National Federations and the EHF. The decisions of the ECA, as an independent court of arbitration, are final and binding for the parties involved.