Appeals Process
Any ruling issued by the NorCal PAD Committee or one of the PAD Subcommittees may be appealed. The specific process for each type of appeal is outlined in the sections below. However, each appeal must adhere to the following process and guidelines:
- Appeals may only be submitted by a Club’s President or Executive Director/ Director of Coaching.
- Once received the Appeal Committee will review the decision of the PAD or Subcommittee and determine if the PAD or Subcommittee misapplied the Rules, Codes, Bylaws, or other documents governing NorCal Premier Soccer, and whether the decision of the PAD or Subcommittee was in accordance with NorCal Premier’s policies, rules, guidelines and the good of the game.
- The Appeal Committee can decide to uphold or overturn the decision of the PAD or Subcommittee. Additionally, the Appeal Committee may return the protest to the PAD or Subcommittee for a rehearing based on the submission of new evidence that was not available at the time of the original decision. A failure by a party to timely submit information shall not be a reason to order a rehearing.
- Any appeal from the decision of the Appeal Committee will be made pursuant to NorCal Premier’s Bylaws and the rules and regulations of US Club Soccer and the United States Soccer Federation.
Appeal Form
To submit an appeal of any PAD Committee decision, the club must submit a PAD Appeal Form. This form can be used to appeal any decision issued by the NorCal League Office, including PAD Incident Report decisions, Match Report Decisions, Referee Match Report Decisions and Suspensions. An appeal may only be filed by a club’s Executive Director, Coaching or Technical Director or the club President.
The Club making the appeal must include the specific grounds for making the appeal and must specifically refer to the NorCal Premier bylaw, rule, policy, or procedure that was inappropriately applied by the League Office. To be valid, an appeal must be accompanied by an appeal fee of $50, which will be charged at the conclusion of the appeal form. If the appeal is upheld, the fee will be refunded to the club.
Any appeal of a NorCal League Office decision will be heard by an Appeals Committee. Once received the Appeals Committee will review each appeal and issue a decision.
