Governance authority framework

Authority infrastructure

Futbolier Governance Authority Framework

Every certificate exists inside an authority hierarchy. Use this framework to understand who may certify, revoke, correct, supersede, freeze, or resolve a record, and how conflicts between authorities should be treated.

Open Trust Governance Guide Constitution specification Open trust stack overview

Authority infrastructure model

The framework turns governance from explanatory copy into registry-ready primitives: authority nodes, delegated powers, scope boundaries, precedence, appeals, decisions, and constitutional rules.

Authority hierarchy

Every federation, association, league, club, auditor, and operator can be represented as an authority node with parentage and jurisdiction.

Delegated powers

Authorities do not simply exist; they hold specific powers such as issuing passports, approving eligibility, revoking records, or resolving disputes.

Governance scope

Each action must state where it applies, which competition or season it covers, and which authority framework controls it.

Constitutional registry

The registry should store governance structure itself: authorities, delegations, appeal paths, precedence rules, conflict rules, and public visibility.

Authority hierarchy

A certificate's authority is not only who signed it. It is also where that signer sits in the hierarchy and whether the action falls inside its delegated scope.

Authority type

Global federation

Typical scope

Worldwide competition governance, global eligibility, international suspensions, and constitutional rules.

Precedence rule

Highest vertical authority unless a record is outside its defined sport or competition scope.

Authority type

National federation

Typical scope

National eligibility, registration, discipline, competition approval, and national appeals.

Precedence rule

Prevails over regional, league, club, and operator records inside national scope.

Authority type

Regional association

Typical scope

State, province, regional competition, local eligibility, and delegated identity review.

Precedence rule

Prevails over leagues and clubs inside delegated regional scope, but not over national decisions.

Authority type

League or competition organizer

Typical scope

Competition enrollment, match certification, fixture governance, sanctions, and season operations.

Precedence rule

Controls competition records unless a parent federation overrides or limits the decision.

Authority type

Club or academy

Typical scope

Club identity submissions, roster data, academy records, and internal attestations.

Precedence rule

May attest facts but does not override federation eligibility, discipline, or appeals.

Authority type

Independent auditor or operator

Typical scope

Evidence review, system operation, custody reporting, and verification support.

Precedence rule

Can certify process or custody only when an authority delegates that power.

Authority type	Typical scope	Precedence rule
Global federation	Worldwide competition governance, global eligibility, international suspensions, and constitutional rules.	Highest vertical authority unless a record is outside its defined sport or competition scope.
National federation	National eligibility, registration, discipline, competition approval, and national appeals.	Prevails over regional, league, club, and operator records inside national scope.
Regional association	State, province, regional competition, local eligibility, and delegated identity review.	Prevails over leagues and clubs inside delegated regional scope, but not over national decisions.
League or competition organizer	Competition enrollment, match certification, fixture governance, sanctions, and season operations.	Controls competition records unless a parent federation overrides or limits the decision.
Club or academy	Club identity submissions, roster data, academy records, and internal attestations.	May attest facts but does not override federation eligibility, discipline, or appeals.
Independent auditor or operator	Evidence review, system operation, custody reporting, and verification support.	Can certify process or custody only when an authority delegates that power.

Delegated powers

Powers are explicit capabilities attached to authority nodes. A reviewer should see which authority granted the power, when it became effective, and whether the action stayed inside scope.

Power

Issue Passport

Controlled action

Creates or validates a player, club, or entity passport for a defined governance scope.

Delegation rule

May be delegated to regional associations or operators for identity review, but appeal rights remain with the governing authority.

Power

Certify Match

Controlled action

Seals match facts, evidence coverage, official status, and archive lineage.

Delegation rule

May be delegated to leagues or competition organizers for specific competitions and seasons.

Power

Approve Eligibility

Controlled action

Determines whether a player or team may participate under a ruleset.

Delegation rule

Can be narrow; local eligibility does not automatically imply national or international eligibility.

Power

Revoke Certificate

Controlled action

Withdraws reliance on an issued certificate or public record.

Delegation rule

Requires explicit revocation power or a higher authority action; lower authorities cannot revoke parent decisions.

Power

Approve Correction

Controlled action

Issues a corrective record with lineage instead of overwriting certified history.

Delegation rule

Correction power may be limited by correction type: clerical, identity, eligibility, disciplinary, or governance.

Power

Resolve Dispute

Controlled action

Creates an authority decision after challenge, appeal, evidence review, or conflict escalation.

Delegation rule

Resolution should identify the deciding authority, ruleset version, appeal path, and public treatment.

Power	Controlled action	Delegation rule
Issue Passport	Creates or validates a player, club, or entity passport for a defined governance scope.	May be delegated to regional associations or operators for identity review, but appeal rights remain with the governing authority.
Certify Match	Seals match facts, evidence coverage, official status, and archive lineage.	May be delegated to leagues or competition organizers for specific competitions and seasons.
Approve Eligibility	Determines whether a player or team may participate under a ruleset.	Can be narrow; local eligibility does not automatically imply national or international eligibility.
Revoke Certificate	Withdraws reliance on an issued certificate or public record.	Requires explicit revocation power or a higher authority action; lower authorities cannot revoke parent decisions.
Approve Correction	Issues a corrective record with lineage instead of overwriting certified history.	Correction power may be limited by correction type: clerical, identity, eligibility, disciplinary, or governance.
Resolve Dispute	Creates an authority decision after challenge, appeal, evidence review, or conflict escalation.	Resolution should identify the deciding authority, ruleset version, appeal path, and public treatment.

Governance scope engine

Scope prevents one certification from being incorrectly applied elsewhere. Records should carry the dimensions that determine where reliance is valid.

Scope dimension

Geographic scope

Reviewer question

Which country, state, region, municipality, or territory does this action cover?

Example

Queretaro state identity certification does not automatically become national eligibility.

Scope dimension

Competition scope

Reviewer question

Which league, tournament, cup, or sanctioned competition is controlled?

Example

A league match certificate may be authoritative for that competition but not for federation discipline.

Scope dimension

Age and category scope

Reviewer question

Does the action apply to youth, senior, academy, gender, or category-specific rules?

Example

U17 eligibility can be valid for youth competitions while irrelevant to senior registration.

Scope dimension

Season scope

Reviewer question

Which season, validity window, or effective date range controls the action?

Example

A 2027 credential may expire before a 2028 competition review.

Scope dimension

Authority scope

Reviewer question

Was the action inside the power delegated to the issuing authority?

Example

A regional association may verify identity without holding national eligibility appeals power.

Scope dimension	Reviewer question	Example
Geographic scope	Which country, state, region, municipality, or territory does this action cover?	Queretaro state identity certification does not automatically become national eligibility.
Competition scope	Which league, tournament, cup, or sanctioned competition is controlled?	A league match certificate may be authoritative for that competition but not for federation discipline.
Age and category scope	Does the action apply to youth, senior, academy, gender, or category-specific rules?	U17 eligibility can be valid for youth competitions while irrelevant to senior registration.
Season scope	Which season, validity window, or effective date range controls the action?	A 2027 credential may expire before a 2028 competition review.
Authority scope	Was the action inside the power delegated to the issuing authority?	A regional association may verify identity without holding national eligibility appeals power.

Registry standing and precedence

When authorities disagree, the registry should preserve each record but explain which standing source controls operational reliance.

Conflict pattern

Vertical authority

Rule

Higher jurisdiction prevails inside its scope: global, confederation, national, regional, league, club.

Registry treatment

Lower records remain preserved but are marked superseded by authority or limited by the higher decision.

Conflict pattern

Horizontal authority

Rule

Authorities at the same level cannot override each other without a shared parent or defined conflict rule.

Registry treatment

Mark as authority conflict and route to the common parent authority or appeal body.

Conflict pattern

Appeal pending

Rule

An appeal does not erase the original decision; it creates a review state and potential new authority decision.

Registry treatment

Show appeal status, filing authority, decision authority, and whether public reliance is paused.

Conflict pattern

Supersession

Rule

Newer or higher-authority records can replace operational standing while preserving historical records.

Registry treatment

Display current standing source and retain lineage to the superseded certificate.

Conflict pattern	Rule	Registry treatment
Vertical authority	Higher jurisdiction prevails inside its scope: global, confederation, national, regional, league, club.	Lower records remain preserved but are marked superseded by authority or limited by the higher decision.
Horizontal authority	Authorities at the same level cannot override each other without a shared parent or defined conflict rule.	Mark as authority conflict and route to the common parent authority or appeal body.
Appeal pending	An appeal does not erase the original decision; it creates a review state and potential new authority decision.	Show appeal status, filing authority, decision authority, and whether public reliance is paused.
Supersession	Newer or higher-authority records can replace operational standing while preserving historical records.	Display current standing source and retain lineage to the superseded certificate.

Appeals and authority decisions

Appeals should become certified governance artifacts with evidence, ruleset, decision authority, outcome, signatures, and public treatment.

Appeal filed

Capture appeal ID, filed by, filed against, authority, reason, evidence submitted, and requested remedy.

Review lifecycle

Track filed, under review, evidence requested, hearing scheduled, decision pending, granted, denied, closed, or escalated.

Authority decision

A decision records jurisdiction, evidence considered, ruleset version, outcome, timestamp, signatures, and appeal availability.

Certified artifact

The decision should be verifiable like any certificate: fingerprinted, signed, linked to lineage, and preserved in the registry.

Conflict resolution model

Authority conflict is the natural next challenge once certificates become credible. The model should state whether the conflict is vertical, horizontal, or public-facing.

Vertical

Higher authority prevails inside scope

A national federation can override a regional or league record when the decision sits inside national authority.

Horizontal

Peers need a parent resolver

Two leagues or regional associations cannot override each other unless a common parent grants precedence.

Public

Preserve records without overstating reliance

Public views should show the controlling standing source, conflict state, appeal path, and preserved lower records.

Constitutional registry

The registry should store the governance constitution of the ecosystem, not only the certificates produced by it.

Authorities

Store authority ID, type, parent, jurisdiction, governing scope, active status, and public visibility.

Delegations

Store delegated power, delegator, delegate, effective dates, scope, revocability, and evidence of delegation.

Rulesets and precedence

Store policy names, versions, effective dates, hierarchy rules, supersession rules, and scope constraints.

Conflict rules

Store vertical, horizontal, appeal, and cross-jurisdiction resolution rules with routing to the proper authority.

Authority decisions

Store certified decisions, evidence considered, outcome, signatures, appeal path, and resulting standing changes.

Public treatment

Store what may be shown publicly, what must be redacted, and how minor-safe or jurisdiction-specific privacy rules apply.