In January 2017, Shanghai SIPG had a dispute with the Al-Ahli Dubai Club on a football player's transfer compensation. Although Shanghai SIPG had taken recovery actions, the other party refused to fulfill the payment obligation. In March 2017, Shanghai SIPG retained Dentons Shanghai associate Ma Zhongchen to represent them on this sports arbitration case. Mr. Ma submitted the arbitration application and relevant evidence to the FIFA Players' Status Committee. On September 27, 2017, according to the Rules Governing the Procedures of the Player's Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber, FIFA ruled that Al-Ahli Dubai Club shall pay the transfer fee and interest of delayed payment to Shanghai SIPG.

After applying for FIFA's arbitral award with reasons, Al-Ahli Dubai Club filed for arbitration in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on the grounds that the subject of law was wrong, the old and new clubs did not have legal continuity and the procedure was illegal. Since the Ministry of Economy, UAE does not allow public access to corporate change information, and the Dubai club has a royal background, the files of shareholder changes cannot be obtained directly. After collecting the key evidence, such as the announcements of the United Arab Emirates Football Association and the UAE Pro League Committee, and business registration documents, through multiple channels, Mr. Ma submitted a written statement of response to the CAS and rejected the arbitrators designated by the appellant, requesting the CAS to re-designate the arbitrator. Ultimately, the CAS appointed an Australian arbitrator to serve as the sole arbitrator.

After the first round of proceedings, the application of the Al-Ahli Dubai Club's attorney to the CAS for continuing presenting evidence was rejected at the request of Mr. Ma. The CAS decided to hold a hearing at the CAS Alternative Hearing Center in Shanghai on September 11, 2018 (this case is the sixth case heard in this center since its establishment). The request of the appellant's attorney to change the time of the hearing was rejected. Mr. Ma and associate Zheng Zhe jointly attended the hearing, completely refuting the other party's appeal and request for presenting evidence. On October 10, 2018, the CAS made a formal decision: the court rejected the other party's request for arbitration, confirmed the validity of the ruling of FIFA, and ruled that the other party shall bear all the arbitration costs of this case.

The Dentons lawyers working on this case have professional experience in dealing with disputes in the sports field. When facing the difficulties in collecting direct evidence, they adopted a precise response strategy for sports arbitration and effectively safeguarded the legitimate rights and interests of the Chinese professional football club.