CLUB LICENSING REGULATIONS

Transcription

1 Croatian Football Federation CLUB LICENSING REGULATIONS Edition November 2015 HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 1/91

2 Contents Description GENERAL PROVISIONS LICENSOR Page 5 Licensing bodies 6 Licensing Committee 6 Licensing Appeals Body 7 Licensing department 8 Independence 8 Error! Reference source not found. 9 LICENCE APPLICANT 9 LICENCES 11 CORE PROCESS (LICENSING PROCESS) 13 SPECIAL PERMISSION TO ENTER THE UEFA CLUB COMPETITIONS 14 TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS 16 Annex I - CORE / LICENSING PROCESS LICENSING PROCESS TIMESCALE I. SPORTING CRITERIA 26 II. INFRASTRUCTURE CRITERIA 29 STADIUM PERMISSIONS, APPROVALS AND CERTIFICATES 29 Stadium technical requirements 32 FIELD OF PLAY 36 TRAINING FACILITIES 39 DRESSING ROOMS AND ROOMS FOR OFFICIALSofficials 40 MEDIA 41 PUBLIC ACCESS AND PARKING FACILITIESparking facilities 46 III. PERSONNEL AND ADMINISTRATIVE CRITERIA 49 IV. LEGAL CRITERIA 58 V. FINANCIAL CRITERIA 61 Annex II - Glossary 88 HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 2/91

3 Pursuant to item 6), paragraph 1 of Article 44, the Executive Committee of the Croatian National Federation, at its meeting held on 2015, adopted the following CLUB LICENSING REGULATIONS OF THE CROATIAN FOOTBALL FEDERATION GENERAL PROVISIONS The statutory basis of the Croatian Football Federation's club licensing system was defined by the Resolution of the Croatian Football Federation Assembly on Implementation and Application of the UEFA Club Licensing System, made at the meeting held on 27 February 2003; Article 67 of the CFF Statutes is the legal basis of the CFF club licensing system. These Regulations are also based on the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations. Article 1 These Regulations set the conditions (criteria) under which football clubs are granted licence(s) to compete with their first team in the following competitions, i.e. in the UEFA club competitions (hereinafter referred as UEFA competitions ) in the First, Second and Third Croatian Football League (HNL). These Regulations also govern the club licensing procedure. The CFF club licensing system applies to both the UEFA club competitions and the competitions in the First, Second and Third Croatian Football League (I.HNL, II.HNL, III. HNL). Based on these Regulations, CFF grants 4 types of licences: - the UEFA Licence; - the Licence for I. HNL; - the Licence for II. HNL, and - the Licence for III. HNL. The UEFA Licence is a sine qua non condition to enter the UEFA club competitions; football clubs which qualify for the UEFA club competitions on sporting merit must obtain the Licence issued by CFF, except where Articles of these Regulations apply. The Licence for I. HNL is a sine qua non condition to enter the First Croatian Football League competitions; football clubs which qualify for the First Croatian Football League, based on their sporting merit, must obtain the Licence issued by CFF. The Licence for II. HNL is a sine qua non condition to enter the Second Croatian Football League; football clubs which qualify for the Second Croatian Football League, based on their sporting merit, must obtain the Licence issued by CFF. HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 3/91

4 The Licence for III. HNL is a sine qua non condition to enter the Third Croatian Football League; football clubs which qualify for the Third Croatian Football League, based on their sporting merit, must obtain the Licence issued by CFF. These Regulations define the licensing process (core process) and the minimum requirements to be fulfilled by CFF in order to act as the licensor for the football clubs, as well as the minimum procedures to be followed by the licensor in the assessment of the club licensing criteria. The Annexes to these Regulations and the five groups of licensing Criteria are an integral part of these Regulations. Article 2 The club licensing system has the following objectives: Further promote and continuously improve the standard of all aspects of football in Croatia and give continued priority to the training and care of young players in every club; Ensure that each club has an adequate level of management and organisation; Adapt clubs sporting infrastructure to provide players, spectators and media representatives with suitable, well-equipped and safe facilities; Protect the integrity and smooth running of the UEFA and CFF competitions; Allow the development of benchmarking for clubs in financial, sporting, legal, personnel, administrative and infrastructure-related criteria throughout Croatia and/or Europe; Improve the economic and financial capability of the clubs, increasing their transparency and credibility; Place the necessary importance on the protection of creditors by ensuring that clubs settle their liabilities with employees, social/tax authorities and other clubs punctually; Introduce more discipline and rationality in club football finances; Encourage clubs to operate on the basis of their own revenues; Encourage responsible spending for the long-term benefit of football; Protect the long-term viability and sustainability of European club football. Article 3 For the purpose of these Regulations, the applicable definitions of terms are provided within the Glossary contained in Annex II to these Regulations. In these Regulations, the use of the masculine form refers equally to the feminine. HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 4/91

5 Article 4 The club licensing criteria to be fulfilled in order to be granted the relevant licence(s) are: - sporting, - infrastructure, - administrative and personnel, - legal, - financial. The "A" - criteria are mandatory. A licence is conditioned upon the fulfilment of A criteria. All A criteria must be fulfilled by clubs in order for them to be granted the relevant licence. The B - criteria are mandatory. However, if the licence applicant does not fulfil any B - criteria, the licensing bodies may still grant the relevant licence but they shall sanction the licence applicant, either through a caution or a fine, pursuant to the provisions of these Regulations and the CFF Disciplinary Regulations. The sanctioned club has the right to lodge an appeal in accordance with the procedure defined by these Regulations. The C - criteria are best practice recommendations. Non-fulfilment of any C - criteria does not lead to the refusal of the relevant licence or to any sanction. Any infringements of these Regulations other than the non-respect of B criteria (e.g. nonrespect of deadlines, submission of falsified documents, illegal actions during the licensing procedure, etc.) shall be reported to the CFF Disciplinary Committee, which decides on sanctions pursuant to the provisions of the CFF Disciplinary Regulations. The sanctioned club has the right to lodge an appeal in accordance with the procedure defined by the CFF Disciplinary Regulations. Article 5 Only the clubs which have been granted the relevant licence pursuant to these Regulations and which have qualified on the basis of their sporting results may compete during the licence season, as referred to in Article 1 of these Regulations. Furthermore, the clubs shall meet all other requirements in accordance with the relevant regulations of the UEFA or the CFF club competitions. The final decision regarding the club's admission to any UEFA club competition shall be made by UEFA. Such a decision may be a case for the jurisdiction based on the UEFA Statutes, including the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland. LICENSOR Article 6 The licensor is the Croatian Football Federation (CFF) through its bodies specified in these Regulations. The licensor governs the CFF club licensing system. HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 5/91

6 Licensing bodies Article 7 The decision-making bodies of the licensor (hereinafter referred to as: Bodies) are the Licensing Committee (acting as the first instance body) and the Club Licensing Appeals Body (acting as the second instance body). Such Bodies must be independent of each other. Licensing Committee Article 8 The Licensing Committee decides on the applications for licences and makes decisions on whether a licence should be granted, refused or withdrawn. The Licensing Committee decides on whether a licence should be granted to a licence applicant on the basis of the documents provided and in accordance with the core process and the submission deadline set by such process. In accordance with the provisions of these Regulations, the Licensing Committee decides also on whether a licence should be withdrawn and imposes the sanctions to the licensees due to the non-fulfilment of B criteria. The Licensing Committee may, when deciding on the application for a licence, hear the licence applicant. The license applicant may be represented by the person who has been designated during the licensing process as the licence applicant s representative or by an attorney-at-law who has the licence applicant s power of attorney. The quorum of the Licensing Committee must be at least three members. In case of a tie, the chairman has the casting vote. The decision shall be in writing and include the reasoning as well as the conditions for lodging an appeal. The Licensing Committee shall be composed of the chairman, the vice-chairman and three (3) other members, one of them being a lawyer who has passed the bar examination and another one being a qualified financial expert (an auditor who is the member of the Croatian Chamber of Auditors). A member of the Licensing Committee may not be the Licensing Manager, his deputy, or a member of any of the legal bodies of CFF, nor a representative in the CFF Assembly or a member of the CFF Executive Committee, or of the management personnel of an affiliated club. The Licensing Committee shall be appointed by the CFF Executive Committee for a term of office of 4 years. HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 6/91

7 Article 9 Club Licensing Appeals Body Appeals against decisions of the Licensing Committee may only be lodged by: - a licence applicant who received the refusal from the Licensing Committee; - a licensee whose licence has been withdrawn by the Licensing Committee; - a licensee who has been imposed the sanction for non-fulfilment of B criteria by the Licensing Committee; - a Licensing Manager, on behalf of the licensor. Appeals may be lodged within 8 days from receipt of the decision. Appeals may be lodged due to the following reasons: - infringements of the rules of procedure; - wrong or incomplete established facts; - wrong application of the material law. Appeals must be in writing and must include: - the decision appealed against; - the grounds of the appeal; - the pleadings; - any new facts or evidence held by the appellant, as well as the motion to give evidence. Appeal has a delaying effect on the Licensing Committee s decision. The decision of the Club Licensing Appeals Body is based on the decision of the Licensing Committee and all the admissible evidence provided by the appellant with its written request for appeal and within the set deadline. Any further evidence submitted to the Club Licensing Appeals Body at a later stage shall not be taken into account. The Club Licensing Appeals Body decides on appeals and makes a final decision on whether a licence should be granted or not and/or on whether a licence should be withdrawn or not, as well as on appeals against decisions on sanctions due to the non-fulfilment of B criteria. The decision shall be in writing and include the reasoning. The quorum of the Club Licensing Appeals Body must be at least three members. In case of a tie, the chairman has the casting vote. The decision of the Club Licensing Appeals Body is final. The Club Licensing Appeals Body shall be composed of the chairman, the vice-chairman and three (3) other members, one of them being a lawyer who has passed the bar examination and another one being a qualified financial expert (an auditor who is the member of the Croatian Chamber of Auditors). Members of the Club Licensing Appeals Body may neither be CFF s staff, nor the Licensing Manager or his deputy. HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 7/91

8 Members of the Club Licensing Appeals Body may not simultaneously be members of the CFF Assembly, the Executive Committee and its sub-committees, the Court of Arbitration or of the Arbitration or any other CFF body, or of the management personnel of an affiliated club,. The Club Licensing Appeals Body shall be appointed by the CFF Executive Committee for a term of office of 4 years. The quorum of the Club Licensing Appeals Body must be at least three members. The chairman has the casting vote in case of a tie. Licensing Department Article 10 The CFF Executive Committee has established, within the Office of the Croatian Football Federation, the Licensing Department and appoints a licensing manager and members of the Licensing Department which perform the following tasks: - preparing, implementing and further developing the club licensing system; - providing administrative support to the decision-making bodies; - preparing detailed provisions and instructions for licence applicants/licensees for the implementation of these Regulations; - assisting, advising and monitoring the licensees during the season; - informing UEFA of any event occurring after the licensing decision that constitutes a significant change to the information previously submitted to the licensor; - serving as the contact point for and sharing expertise with the licensing departments of other UEFA member associations and with UEFA itself. The Licensing Department shall be equipped with suitably qualified staff and the necessary infrastructure. At least one staff member of the Licensing Department shall be a qualified financial expert or an external financial adviser (auditor who is the member of the Croatian Chamber of Auditors) and shall have a minimum of 5 years of experience in auditing. Independence Article 11 The Bodies and the Licensing department are independent and autonomous in their work. In the discharge of their duties, members of the Bodies and the Licensing department must act impartially. The separation of competencies shall be guaranteed. If there is any doubt as to the member's independence from the licence applicant/licensee or if there is a conflict of interest, such a member must in all cases automatically abstain from decision-making/assessment. The independence of a member may not be guaranteed if he or any member of his family (spouse, children, parents, sibling) is a, as a way of example and not in an exhaustive way: - member; - shareholder; - business partner; - sponsor; or - consultant, etc. of the licence applicant/licensee. HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 8/91

9 Confidentiality Article 12 The licensor guarantees the licence applicants/licensees full confidentiality with regard to all information given by the licence applicant during the licensing process. All persons involved in the licensing process must comply with strict confidentiality rules regarding the information received during the licensing process. Anyone involved in the licensing process must sign a confidentiality clause before starting his tasks. LICENCE APPLICANT Article 13 A licence applicant may only be a football club, that is a legal entity fully responsible for a football team participating in the international FIFA and UEFA club competitions and in club competitions under the auspices of the CFF, which at the start of the licence season - has been a registered member of the relevant county football association and indirect member of the CFF for at least three consecutive years. Within the meaning of the provision of the previous paragraph of this Article, any alteration to the club s legal form or legal group structure (including, for example, changing its headquarters, name or club colours, or transferring stakeholdings between different clubs, reorganisation, restructuring, merger of clubs, or split of club), during the period of three consecutive years in order to facilitate its qualification on sporting merit and/or its receipt of a licence to the detriment of the integrity of a competition and/or its receipt of a licence is deemed as an interruption of membership within the meaning of these Regulations 1. The licence applicant must have its headquarters in the Republic of Croatia. The licence applicant cannot be a natural person. In the core process the licence applicant may be represented only by the person designated as its authorised representative, as indicated in the documents attached to the licence application, and/or by the attorney-at-law who has the licence applicant s power of attorney. Article 14 The licence applicant must be fully responsible and have exclusive control of all football activities related to participation in national and international football club competitions, as well as of the club's financial activities. The licence applicant may not be directly or indirectly owned, or controlled, by a legal entity or a natural person having significant influence on another club entitled to compete at the same level of competition as the licence applicant. All other relations in respect of membership, ownership and management in the licence applicant 1 In respect of the UEFA Licence, an exception to this three-year-rule may be granted by UEFA. For more details on the principle and process in respect of the exception policy, refer to Annex I (in particular, A 1 d), 2-4 and B) of the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations. HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 9/91

10 shall be governed by the provisions of the Sports Act (Official Gazette of the Republic of Croatia, No. 71/06,, 124/10, No 124/11, No. 86/12, No. 94/13, No. 85/15). The licence applicant is, in particular, responsible for ensuring the following: a) that the licence applicant is fully responsible for the football team composed of registered players participating in national and international club competitions; b) that the licensor is provided with all necessary information and/or relevant documents to fully demonstrate that the licensing obligations are fulfilled; this includes information on sporting, infrastructure, legal, financial, and personnel and administrative criteria set out in these Regulations; c) that the licensor is provided with all necessary information on the reporting entity in respect of which sporting, infrastructure, personnel and administrative, legal and financial information are required to be provided under these Regulations. The licensor must assess whether, in respect of each licence applicant, the selected reporting perimeter is appropriate for club licensing purposes. In that respect, the licence applicant must submit the complete legal group structure (graphically presented), approved by the management, together with the financial statements, d) that the licensor is provided with all other information and documents relevant for decision-making by the licensor within the meaning of these Regulations. e) that the licence applicant shall not transfer any of its obligations under these Regulations to any other club. Article 15 The licence applicant must submit a written application for a licence. In this application, the licence applicant must declare that it will fulfil the obligations of the CFF club licensing system. An application is submitted separately for each competition whose relevant licence is applied for. By submission of a license application for a relevant competition, the license applicant shall be obliged to participate in the competition for which the license is granted. Upon the issue of a licence, the licence applicant becomes the licensee. LICENCES Article 16 The four Licences granted by CFF are issued in accordance with the provisions of these Regulations. HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 10/91

11 The clubs which qualify for the UEFA club competitions on sporting merit must obtain the UEFA Licence issued by CFF according to these Regulations, except where Articles of these Regulations apply. The clubs which qualify for the First Croatian Football League on sporting merit must obtain the Licence for I. HNL issued by CFF according to these Regulations. The clubs which qualify for the Second Croatian Football League on sporting merit must obtain the Licence for II. HNL issued by CFF according to these Regulations. The clubs which qualify for the Third Croatian Football League on sporting merit must obtain the Licence for III. HNL issued by CFF according to these Regulations. Licences are issued for each competition the licence applicant has submitted an application for. If the licence applicant has been issued the licence for a competition of the Croatian Football Federation for which it has submitted an application and it subsequently fails to achieve the necessary sporting result, the licence shall be valid for the lower rank of competition in which it will compete based on sporting result. If a licence is refused to the licence applicant for a competition for which it has submitted an application, the decision-making bodies will in the same licensing process decide whether the licence applicant should be issued a licence for a lower rank competition or whether the licence applicant should be refused a licence for all the competitions subject to the licensing process. Licences are issued on an annual basis and expire without prior notice at the end of the season for which they were issued. A licensee may not withdraw from its licence. All licences granted by CFF cannot be transferred to another club. Article 17 Each licence applicant/licensee shall regularly advise the Licensing Department of any change to the elements making the licensing criteria or of any event occurring after the submission of the licensing documentation to the licensor representing a significant change to the information previously submitted, including any change to the legal form or legal group structure. Each licence applicant/licensee shall advise the Licensing Department of any such change within the term of ten days following the occurrence of such change. The Licensing Department itself may also, if any change has come to its attention, request a licensee to submit new information and assess whether such licensee still fulfils the required club licensing criteria. Article 18 Licenses may be withdrawn during the licence season by the Licensing bodies if: a) any of the conditions for the issuing of the relevant licence are no longer satisfied; or b) the licensee violates any of its obligations under these Regulations. HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 11/91

12 As soon as a UEFA Licence withdrawal is envisaged, the CFF's Licensing Department shall immediately inform the UEFA administration accordingly, and in case of an envisaged withdrawal of a licence for the CFF competitions for I., II. and III. HNL, the CFF's Executive Committee shall be informed. Article 19 If a licensee has its licence withdrawn during the licence season, the licensor may sanction that club according to the Disciplinary Regulations of CFF, or to eliminate that club from the CFF club competitions. A decision concerning the CFF club competitions shall be made by the CFF s Disciplinary Committee or CFF s Executive Committee (elimination from the CFF competitions). In case of the withdrawal of the UEFA Licence, UEFA reserves the right to sanction or eliminate that club from the UEFA club competitions based on the applicable UEFA regulations. Article 20 The licensor may establish the fees for administrative and organisational expenses of the licensing process, to be paid by the licence applicant. CORE PROCESS (LICENSING PROCESS) Article 21 The core process is a procedure in which the Licensing Department and the licensing bodies examine and decide on whether a licence applicant fulfils the club licensing criteria and other conditions laid down in these Regulations for the issuance of a licence. In accordance to the Club Licensing Quality Standard defined by UEFA, the core process is certified on an annual basis by an independent certification body appointed by UEFA. The core process starts on 31 December on submission of the licensing documentation to the licence applicants by the Licensing Department and ends on submission of the list of licensing decisions to UEFA on 31 May (in principle). Article 22 All the steps and the assessment methods of the core process and respective deadlines are presented in graphics and writing in Annex I to these Regulations, forming an integral part thereof. The assement methods to verify the compliance with the financial criteria are separately defined in Chapter V Financial criteria of these Regulations. HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 12/91

13 Article 23 All steps undertaken within the core process are based on the principle of equal treatment of all parties, which is ensured by the licensor. Article 24 All the documents being submitted by the licence applicant/licensee to the licensor, together with the licence application or appeal lodged in respect of the Licensing Committee s decision, if not made in Croatian, shall be submitted in the original language together with their translations into Croatian, certified by licensed court interpreter. Article 25 All deadlines and time frames in the core process are determined as follows: a) When the deadline is determined by number of days, the day of delivery or communication shall not be counted in the time frame; the beginning of the time frame shall be the next day. b) The beginning and duration of time frames are not prevented by Sundays or national holidays. If the last day of a time frame falls on a Sunday or a national holiday, the deadline shall be the next working day. c) A document is considered to be submitted within a deadline, if it reaches the seat of the licensor before expiry of the deadline. If a document is sent by registered mail, the day of submitting the same to the post office shall be considered the date of delivery to the licensor. Article 26 The licensor delivers written documents to the licence applicant / licensee by facsimile, or post. Decisions of the Bodies are delivered by facsimile or registered mail. The decision shall include: - the date on which it was made; - the names of the members of the decision-making body and the quorum; - the names of the parties and their representatives; - the request and the pleadings of the parties; - the reasons for the decision in fact and in law; - the decision, including the costs; - the signature of the chairman or the vice-chairman of the decision-making body concerned; - if applicable, an indication of the instruction of legal remedy, or right of appeal before the Club Licensing Appeals Body (form and deadline for an appeal). HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 13/91

14 SPECIAL PERMISSION TO ENTER THE UEFA CLUB COMPETITIONS Article 27 If a club qualifies for a UEFA club competition on sporting merit but has not undergone any licensing process at all or has undergone a licensing process which is lesser/not equivalent to the one applicable to the UEFA Licence under these Regulations, because it belongs to a Croatian Football League other than the First Croatian Football League, CFF may, on behalf of such a club, request from UEFA the extraordinary application of the UEFA club licensing system. Based on such extraordinary application request, UEFA may grant special permission to the club to enter the corresponding UEFA club competition. Such an extraordinary application applies to the specific club and for the season in question. Article 28 The UEFA administration defines the deadlines and the minimum criteria for the extraordinary application of the UEFA club licensing system and communicates these criteria to the licensor at the latest by 31 August of the year preceding the licence season. Article 29 Until the deadline defined by the UEFA administration, the licensor must notify the UEFA administration in writing of such extraordinary application requests, stating the name(s) of the club(s) concerned. Article 30 The licensor is responsible for submitting the criteria to the club(s) concerned for the assessment for the extraordinary procedure at the level of the CFF. It must also take immediate action with the club(s) for the preparation of that procedure. Article 31 The club(s) concerned, in an extraordinary application request, must provide the necessary documentary proof to the licensor in order to prove the fulfilment of the criteria. The licensor will assess the club(s) against the fixed minimum standards and forward the following documentation in one of the UEFA official languages to the UEFA administration by the given deadline: a) a written request to apply for special permission to enter the corresponding UEFA club competition; b) a recommendation by the licensor based on its assessment (including the dates and names of the persons having assessed the club(s)); HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 14/91

15 c) all documentary evidence provided by the club(s) and the licensor as requested by the UEFA administration; d) any other documents requested by the UEFA administration during the extraordinary procedure. Article 32 The UEFA administration bases its decision on the documentation received and grants special permission to enter the UEFA club competitions if all the set criteria are fulfilled by the said club and if the same club ultimately qualifies on sporting merit. The decision of UEFA will be communicated to the licensor, which has to forward it to the club(s) concerned. An appeal can be lodged against a decision made by the UEFA administration before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland, in accordance with the relevant provisions laid down in the UEFA Statutes. Article 33 If the club(s) concerned is/are sportingly eliminated during this extraordinary procedure, the licensor has to notify the UEFA administration immediately, and this procedure is immediately terminated, without further decision. Such a terminated procedure cannot be restarted at a later stage. TRANSITIONAL AND FINAL PROVISIONS Article 34 UEFA or its nominated bodies/agencies reserve the right to, at any time, conduct compliance audits of the licensor and, in the presence of the latter, of the licence applicants/licensees. Compliance audits aim to ensure that the licensor, as well as the licence applicants/licensees, have fulfilled their obligations and that the UEFA Licences were correctly awarded at the time of the final decision of the licensor. On submission by the licensor to the UEFA administration of the list of licensing decisions, UEFA Club Monitoring process, as defined in Part III of the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations, starts for the clubs which have qualified on the basis of the UEFA Licence issued by CFF (or been granted special permission by UEFA to enter the UEFA club competitions) and on sporting merit for an individual UEFA club competition. Such process ends at the end of the licence season. The responsibilities, obligations, terms, conditions, etc. of UEFA Club Monitoring are described in details in Part III of the UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations. HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 15/91

16 Article 35 The first assessment procedure of the clubs in the licensing process based on these Regulations will take place during the competition season 2015/2016 and in accordance with the deadlines established in the core process. In order to be eligible to participate in the CFF club competitions of First and Second Croatian Football Leagues all clubs of the First and Second Croatian Football Leagues must have the licences for I. HNL, respectively for II. HNL. The application of the core process on the clubs of the Third Croatian Football League will be performed during the competition season to be decided by the CFF's Executive Committee in a separate decision and in accordance with the deadlines established in the core process. The CFF Executive Committee must make this decision at least one year before the beginning of application of the core process on the clubs competing in the Third Croatian Football League. Article 36 For the purpose of compliance audits performed by UEFA (see article 34 above), in the event of any discrepancy in the interpretation of these Regulations between their English and Croatian versions, the English version of these Regulations as reviewed by UEFA is authoritative. All correspondence between UEFA and the licensor and/or the licence applicant/the licensee must be in English and UEFA may ask the licensor and/or the licence applicant/ the licensee for a certified translation of documents at their expense. Article 37 If necessary, the Licensing Department shall adopt, in the form of directives, circular letters or any other relevant documents, the detailed provisions necessary for implementing these Regulations. The Club Licensing Regulations of the Croatian Football Federation of 25 November 2014 shall cease to be valid as of the date of commencement of application of these Regulations. These Regulations cannot be amended during the core process, unless duly approved by UEFA. These Regulations shall come into effect on the eighth day following the date of publication in the Official Journal of the Croatian Football Federation. President Zagreb, Number: Davor Šuker, a.l.s. HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 16/91

17 CORE / LICENSING PROCESS Annex I CFF Licensing Department Licensing Committee Club Licensing Appeals Body Licence applicant / Licensee 1. Licensing Department prepares documents for distribution 1. Licensing Department produces package of documents on club licensing which will include these Club Licensing Regulations, questionnaires and forms to be completed and returned 2. Documents are sent to licence applicants to be completed 2. Licensing Department distributes documents to licence applicants by registered mail 3. Licence applicant submits application with supporting documents to Licensing Department (LD) 3. Licence applicant completes and returns application and documents within set deadlines 4. LM checks that documents are complete 4. Licencing Manager (LM) checks that documents are complete 5. OK NO A. Contacts licence applicant and try to agree on further actions to be performed A. From step 5: licence applicant does not provide all necessary documents or documents are incomplete/inaccurate. LM contacts licence applicant to request information that is missing, or From step 8: Licensing Department identifies areas that require further information and clarification from the licence applicant 6. Documents sorted and forwarded to Licensing Department YES 6. LM sorts the information received, records it and forwards to Licensing Department s relevant staff member/expert with responsibilities for that particular area 7. Nominated staff/experts of Licensing Department review documents received and report back to Licensing Manager 8. OK NO 7. Nominated staff of Licensing Department (i.e. legal, financial and other experts) checks the submissions. The submissions have to be justified by supporting documents (evidence that the criteria have been fulfilled). Decision by LM based upon opinion of relevant expert on whether to proceed to the next stage with applicant's documents as they stand or refer documents back to licence applicant for improvement. YES 9. Licensing Manager reviews experts reports 9. Licensing Manager reviews expert reports and opinions HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 17/91

18 10. LM assesses applicant 11. OK YES (B). Discuss any concerns with applicant 10. Licensing Manager assesses the applicant. On the basis of expert reports and/or site visits (if necessary), he may identify areas of concerns that may require further investigation. (B). LM discusses with the licence applicant all the areas of concern or non-compliance. LM may require further explanations or supporting documents, or may decide to perform a site visit. If a site visit is planned, LM and the licence applicant will meet, define the problem and decide on potential actions to be taken by the licence applicant within the deadlines fixed by LM. 12. LM prepares a report to Licensing Committee YES NO (C). OK 12. LM prepares report to Licensing Committee. This report contains aspects of the visit report and other areas including a recommendation that a licence is granted. (C) Licence applicant agrees with the action plan and takes necessary actions to address problem areas. Licence applicant does not agree with the action plan and does not take the recommended actions. 13. LM obtains licence applicant management's representation letter (F.04) letter (D). Licence refused 13. LM obtains management representation letter from licence applicant stating whether or not any events or conditions of major economic importance have occurred. 14. Review by Licensing Committee 14. Review by Licensing Committee. The Licensing Committee may request a hearing with the licence applicant, this in particular in case of existence of event(s) or conditions of major economic importance. NO (E). Applicant appeals 15. Licensing Committee takes a decision whether to issue a licence to the applicant or not. (D) The licence is refused. Applicant is advised of reasons and given the option of instigating the appeals process. 15. Decision (F). LM prepares a report (E). Applicant lodges an appeal. Club Licensing Appeals Body notified and meeting date set. YES YES (G). Review by Club Licensing Appeals Body (F). LM produces a report and delivers it to Club Licensing Appeals Body. (G). Club Licensing Appeals Body meets and considers the applicant's appeal. yes Indicators breached 19. Duty to update Indicators fulfilled YES 17. LM submits list of licensing decisions to UEFA, CFF s Competitions Committee, 1st, 2nd and 3rd League (H). Club Licensing Appeals Body decides whether to issue a licence to the applicant or not. 16. Licence granted, which may or may not detail areas for future attention of the applicant and stating whether or not financial indicators have been breached. (I). Licence refused with details of areas to be addressed. 17. LM communicates to UEFA, CFF s Competitions Committee, and to 1st, 2nd and 3rd Croatian Football League the list of licensing decisions 18. The licensee promptly notifies the licensor in writing about any subsequent events that may have an adverse impact upon the licensee's ability to continue as a goingconcern. 19. If the licensee is in breach of one or more of the indicators, then the licensee must prepare and submit an HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx updated version of future financial information 18/91

19 1. The Licensing Manager produces the documents on club licensing which will include the criteria (copy of these Regulations), the directives, questionnaires and forms to be completed and returned to the licensor. 2. The Licensing Department distributes the prepared package of documents to the licence applicants by registered mail and posts it to the official web site of CFF. 3. The licence applicant completes the documents (questionnaires, templates, etc.) and returns them to the Licensing Department within the set deadline. These documents are returned by registered mail. Supporting documents can be enclosed, if required. Each document must include name of the licence applicant and/or name of the stadium (if applicable), date of issue, signature and stamp. 4. The Licensing Manager checks whether the documents returned by the licence applicant are complete and returned within the set deadline. 5. Decision: - step 6 or - step (A) 6. If the documents are complete and sent within the set deadline, the Licensing Manager sorts the documents received, records them and forwards them to the appointed experts with responsibilities for that particular area for review (e.g. legal documents will be forwarded to the legal criteria expert, financial information to the financial expert, etc.). 7. The nominated experts receive the licence applicant s documents from the Licensing Manager, review the documents, check the fulfilment of the criteria and then report back to the Licensing Manager within the agreed deadline and according to prepared forms (checklists, reports etc.). The checks have to be justified by supporting documents (evidence that the criteria have been fulfilled), e.g. Criteria I.01 Certificates - to be supported by the copies of valid certificates, permissions and approvals issued by competent state institutions and local government bodies. 8. Decision: - step 9 or - step (A) 9. The Licensing Manager verifies that the reports of the experts are complete and returned within the agreed deadline. The Licensing Manager reviews the reports and the opinions of the experts. 10. The Licensing Manager assesses the licence applicant. On the basis of the reports of the experts he may identify areas of concern that may require further investigation. 11. Decision: - step 12 or - step (B) 12. If the Licensing Manager does not identify any area that requires further review, he prepares the report for consideration of the Licensing Committee within the agreed deadline. This report will contain results of the review (analysis of the documents received and, if performed, information on site visits), and the recommendation whether the licence is to be granted or rejected HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 19/91

20 13. The Licensing Manager obtains management representation letter from the licence applicant stating whether or not any events or conditions of major economic importance (Criteria F.04) have occurred. This is included to his report. According to the results of the review, the report of the Licensing Manager will include the recommendation to grant or to refuse the licence. 14. The Licensing Committee receives the report of the Licensing Manager within the agreed deadline, reviews it, asks the Licensing Manager for further explanations or documents if necessary and makes the decision whether to grant the licence or not. The Licensing Committee has to fulfil the requirements of qualification, independence and confidentiality as described in these Regulations. 15. Decision - step 15 or - step (D). 16. After careful review of the licence applicant's documents and of the report of the Licensing Manager, the Licensing Committee issues the licence. The issuance of the licence is subject to the condition that the licence applicant fulfils all "A" criteria defined in these Regulations. The issued licence may or may not detail areas for future attention of the licence applicant. 17. The Licensing Manager receives the report of the Licensing Committee. On the basis of the decisions made by the Licensing Committee, he prepares the list of the licence applicants authorised to enter UEFA and CFF club competitions. The list of licensing decisions is sent to UEFA, CFF s Competitions Committee, and to the First, Second and Third Croatian Football League within the fixed deadline. 18. After it has been issued a licence, up until the end of the licence season, the licensee must regularly notify the licensor in writing of any subsequent event that it is aware of at any time that may cast significant doubt upon the licensee s ability to continue as a going concern until at least the end of the licence season. 19. If the licensee is in breach of one or more of the indicators, then the licensee must prepare and submit an updated version of the future financial information. The updated future financial information must be prepared, as a minimum, on a quarterly basis. (A) From step 5: If the documents are not complete or if they are not sent within the set deadline, the Licensing Manager contacts the licence applicant in order to try to agree on the next actions to be taken (e.g. to request information, supporting documents, questionnaire or form that is missing). (B) From step 8: If the licensing expert identifies areas that require further information, he contacts the licence applicant to discuss any issue and to obtain clarifications, and tries to reach a mutual agreement on the actions to be taken. If the Licensing Manager identifies areas that require further review (non-compliance with certain criteria, errors, lack of information, etc.), he contacts the licence applicant to discuss any concerns. The Licensing Manager may require further explanations or supporting documents or may decide to perform a site visit. They identify potential actions by the club to rectify these areas together with a timescale. (C) Decision. HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 20/91

21 Two alternatives: If the licence applicant agrees with the Licensing Manager on the actions to be taken, then go back to step 10. If the licence applicant does not agree with the Licensing Manager's report and refuses to deliver new information or to take the necessary actions, then go back to step 12. (D) After careful review of the licence applicant's documents and of the report of the Licensing Manager the Licensing Committee refuses to grant the licence. The refusal details the areas to be addressed and the licence applicant is given the possibility of lodging an appeal with the Club Licensing Appeals Body. (E) (F) The licence applicant lodges an appeal. The Club Licensing Appeals Body is notified and the meeting date is set. The Licensing Manager produces a report and delivers it to the Club Licensing Appeals Body. The report details areas of concern and the reasons for the refusal. (G) The Club Licensing Appeals Body meets and considers the licence applicant's appeal. The Club Licensing Appeals Body may require further information and/or supporting documentation from the Licensing Manager and /or licence applicant. (H) Decision: Two alternatives: (I) Step 16 or step (I). After careful review of the licence applicant's documents and of the report of the Licensing Manager, the Club Licensing Appeals Body refuses to grant the licence. The decision of the Club Licensing Appeals Body details the reasons for the refusal and the areas to be addressed. Fulfilment of steps 18 and 19 shall be assessed in respect of the following licensing cycle. HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 21/91

22 CORE / LICENSING PROCESS TIMESCALE CORE / LICENSING PROCESS 1./2. The Licensing Department of the licensor (CFF) prepares and delivers by registered mail a club licensing package of documents to the licence applicants (clubs) containing these Regulations, directives, questionnaires and forms for return. 3. The licence applicant completes and returns the documents and the information within the set deadline. *Exceptionally, for UEFA/1 st /2 nd Croatian Football League, the deadline for financial information and documents is 01 April. The deadline in respect of financial criterion F.04 is defined by Article 30 and 31 of the Financial criteria of these Regulations. 4. The Licensing Manager checks that the documents are complete and returned by the licence applicant within the set deadline. 5. A. If the licence applicant has not returned all necessary documents or the documents are incomplete/inaccurate, the Licensing Manager contacts the licence applicant and asks for the information missing. 6. The Licensing Manager sorts the information received, records it and forwards it to the Licencing Department appointed experts with responsibilities for that particular area for review. 7. The nominated experts of the Licensing Department (i.e. legal expert, financial expert etc.) review the submissions. The submissions have to be justified by supporting documents (evidence that the criteria have been fulfilled). A decision by the Licensing Manager is based upon the opinion of a relevant expert on whether to proceed to the next stage with the licence applicant s documents as they are or refer the documents back to the licence applicant for improvement. 8. A. The Licensing Manager identifies the areas in respect of which the licence applicant is requested additional information or clarifications. 9. The Licensing Manager reviews the reports and opinions of the relevant experts. 10. The Licensing Manager assesses the licence applicant. Based on the reports of the experts and/or spot checks, he may identify the areas of concern that may require further investigation. 11.B. The Licensing Manager discusses with the licence applicant all the areas of concern such as non-compliance with certain criteria, errors, lack of information etc. The LM may require further explanations, supporting documents or may decide to perform a site visit for the purposes of further investigation. If a site visit is planned, the Licensing Manager and the licence applicant will meet, define the problem and decide on potential actions to be taken by the licence applicant within the deadlines fixed by the Licensing Manager. 12.C. The licence applicant agrees with the action plan and takes necessary actions to address problem areas. The licence applicant does not agree with the action plan and does not take the recommended actions. 12. The Licensing Manager produces a report for consideration of the Licensing Committee. The report contains aspects of the report on site visits performed and other areas, as well as a recommendation to grant the licence. 13. The Licensing Manager obtains a management representation letter from the licence applicant. 14. The Licensing Committee (FIB) reviews the documentation. UEFA / 1 st Cro. FL (UEFA Licence and Licence for I. HNL) 2 nd Cro. FL (Licence for II. HNL) 3 rd Cro. FL (Licence for III. HNL) 31 Dec. 31 Dec. 31 Dec. 31 Jan. (01 April)* 31 Jan. (01 April)* 15 Feb. (01 April)* HNS Club Licensing Regulations 2015.docx 22/91