Sports Governing Bodies Editing and Proofreading Services

A player is suspended for four matches. The decision letter says the panel considered the evidence, found the charge proven, and imposed a sanction it considered appropriate in all the circumstances. The player does not know which evidence was believed, why four rather than two, or what the panel made of the two witnesses who supported him — and so he appeals, because there is nothing in the letter to accept.

We edit what governing bodies and federations produce — disciplinary decisions and written reasons, regulations and rule change documentation, appeal and hearing procedures, sanction guidelines, participant and club communications, safeguarding and integrity policies, competition regulations and eligibility rules, and the statements issued when a decision is publicly contested. Our editors work on documents that carry authority over people's participation.

The written reasons for a decision are what make a governing body's authority legitimate, and their failure is a conclusion delivered without reasoning. A sanction nobody can follow the logic of is a sanction that gets appealed. We work through these so the findings of fact are stated separately from the conclusions drawn, since a reader has to be able to accept the facts and still argue about the outcome; so each disputed piece of evidence is addressed with what the panel made of it, because the evidence the panel ignored is the ground on which every appeal is built; so the credibility judgements are explained rather than implied, given that "the panel preferred the referee's account" is a finding that needs a reason and usually has one; so the sanction is derived visibly from the published range — the entry point, the aggravating and mitigating factors applied, and the arithmetic that produced the number; so any departure from the guideline range is explained at greater length than a decision inside it; so the effect of the sanction is stated in practical terms, with the matches or dates it covers and when the person may return; so the appeal route is set out with the deadline, the grounds and the fee; and so the letter is written in the knowledge that it will be read aloud in a clubhouse. Decisions written this way are accepted more often than they are appealed.

Everything you send is treated in confidence, including hearing material, participant information and draft decisions. We are editors rather than lawyers, panel members or regulators, and we offer no legal advice and no view on any charge, decision or sanction. What we can do is make the reasoning followable by the person it concerns.