US appeals court rules for NCAA in dispute over player eligibility rules

By Mike Scarcella

July 16 (Reuters) - The National Collegiate Athletic Association has persuaded a U.S. appeals court to reject an order that the NCAA said could erode distinctions between student and professional athletes.

A panel of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 on Wednesday to overturn a lower decision that said football player Nyzier Fourqurean could compete for Wisconsin University beyond his fourth year of eligibility under the NCAA's player restrictions.

Under the NCAA's so-called five-year rule, athletes are eligible to compete in no more than four seasons within five years of having enrolled in college.

The appeals court’s ruling for the NCAA still allows Fourqurean to continue challenging the rule as his lawsuit moves ahead in the lower court.

The NCAA and a lawyer for Fourqurean did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Circuit Judge Amy St. Eve faulted Fourqurean's legal arguments, saying that he was relying improperly on his own exclusion from college sports to justify his antitrust claims.

“He is not a rival of the NCAA, and he has not drawn a link from his exclusion to an adverse effect on an existing or potential rival of the NCAA,” St. Eve wrote, joined by Circuit Judge Joshua Kolar.

In a dissent, Circuit Judge Kenneth Ripple said the NCAA’s five-year rule “decreases competition in the labor market by forcing out the market’s most experienced athletes.”

At an earlier hearing in Fourqurean’s case, the appeals court struggled over where and how to draw a line that would limit the years a student can play sports.

A lawyer for the NCAA told the court that the eligibility rule was necessary to ensure that college students play college sports, and then move on and make way for a new group of student athletes.

Fourqurean’s attorney, Michael Crooks, told the panel that his client’s case seeks “meaningful exceptions” to the NCAA's five-year rule, and not to overthrow the limit entirely.

Fourqurean’s lawsuit is part of a growing number of legal challenges that seek to loosen player eligibility rules.

The NCAA has also appealed a federal judge’s ruling in favor of an athlete in a lawsuit in New Jersey that brought claims similar to those in Fourqurean's case.

Separately, the NCAA has agreed to a multibillion-dollar settlement that will allow schools for the first time to directly pay students for their athletic service. Challenges to the scope of the settlement are pending in an appeals court.

The case is Fourqurean v. National Collegiate Athletic Association , 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals, No. 25-1187.

For Fourqurean: Michael Crooks of von Briesen & Roper

For NCAA: Rakesh Kilaru of Wilkinson Stekloff

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