Introduction

Today sports have an increasing influence within society and commerce. Major sports events like the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup are watched by billions of people around the world, causing a social and economic impact globally. International sports federations (ISFs) govern and control international sport. They cannot be regulated by national courts or governments. In Sports Law a distinction has to be made between global sports law and international sports law and sports-related national law. Examples of Lex Sportiva are the FIFA Regulations governing International Matches and the IOC Code of Ethics.

The role of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), seated in Lausanne, is more important than ever. The CAS routinely decides on the most important disputes stemming from international sporting competitions and their organisation. The very public controversies over international transfers in football, anti-doping bans, or sporting governance are usually played out on its playground.

This Research Guide is intended as a starting point for research in the field of Sports Law. It provides the basic legal materials available in the Peace Palace Library, both in print and electronic format. Handbooks, leading articles, bibliographies, periodicals, serial publications and documents of interest are presented in the Selective Bibliography section. Links to the PPL Catalogue are inserted. The Library's systematic classification → Public international law and subject heading (keyword) Sports are instrumental for searching through the Catalogue. Special attention is given to our subscriptions on databases, e-journals, e-books and other electronic resources. Finally, this Research Guide features links to relevant websites and other online resources of particular interest.

Bibliography

New titles

Librarian's choice

• Lindholm, J., The Court of Arbitration for Sport and Its Jurisprudence An Empirical Inquiry into Lex Sportiva, The Hague, T.M.C. Asser Press, 2019.

  

  More than thirty years have passed since CAS was created. During those three decades, CAS has evolved from a relatively marginal arbitration institution to the international “supreme court” for sports that decides many of the most important cases in sports and in doing so has a profound effect on sports more generally. CAS is also one of the key actors driving the establishment and continued development of arguably one of the best examples of a transnational legal order, the lex sportiva.

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• Exner, J., Sporting Nationality in the Context of European Union Law Seeking a Balance between Sporting Bodies’ Interests and Athletes’ Rights, Berlin, Springer, 2019.

  
  • Represents a detailed analysis of the compliance of rules governing athletes' eligibility in national teams with EU law
  • Offers arguments for athletes willing to challenge international sporting governing bodies' rules determining sporting nationality before their bodies or courts
  • Presents concrete recommendations for international sporting governing bodies on how to adjust their rules to EU law requirements
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• Kamara, M., Le contentieux du transfert des joueurs devant la FIFA et le Tribunal arbitral du sport: guide juridique pratique, Paris, L'Harmattan, 2018.

  

  Le contentieux du statut et du transfert des joueurs a souvent une influence majeure sur leur carrière. La mise en place des organes décisionnaires de la FIFA, les possibilités de recours contre leurs décisions ont contribué à la création d'une jurisprudence sportive mondiale. Comment fonctionnent ces différentes juridictions ? Quel est le droit matériel applicable ? Quelles sont les décisions majeures récentes ? Cet ouvrage offre un tableau complet de règlements et de décisions en matière de litige international relatif au statut et au transfert des joueurs.

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• Freeburn, L., Regulating International Sport Power, Authority and Legitimacy, Leiden, Boston, Brill Nijhoff, 2018.

  

  In a fresh and original account, Lloyd Freeburn challenges the conventional conception of contracts as the consent-based legal foundation of international sports law. The prevailing legal orthodoxy is shown to be untenable, failing to explain or justify international sports governing bodies’ regulatory power or their control over the livelihoods and liberty of participants in sport. The non-consensual jurisdiction of the Court of Arbitration for Sport is similarly tainted. But this significant challenge is not made simply to undermine international sport’s regulatory regime. A sound legal foundation for regulatory authority in sport is both desirable and necessary. Consequently, effective reform is urgently required to support the regime’s legality and to give it legitimacy by resolving the regime’s democratic deficit

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• De Marco, N. (ed.), Football and the Law, Haywards Heath, Bloomsbury Professional, 2018.

  

  Football and the Law is the first comprehensive review of the law relating to all aspects of football, including the main regulatory and commercial aspects of the sport. With contributions from more than 50 of the leading experts in the field, Football and the Law is a valuable resource for lawyers and others active in the football industry, as well as a vital source of material for students, legal practitioners and others who wish to learn more about the area. The work refers to the key legal principles, cases and regulatory materials relevant to football.

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• David, P., A Guide to the World Anti-Doping Code: the Fight for the Spirit of Sport, Cambridge, Cambridge University Press, 2017.

  

  The law relating to anti-doping changes rapidly. The World Anti-Doping Code was first adopted in 2003 to provide a common set of anti-doping rules applicable across all sport worldwide. The Code has evolved and changed significantly through two major processes of review. This third edition provides essential guidance and commentary on the 2015 Code which replaces the 2009 Code. The 2015 Code contains many significant changes in the core Articles of the Code, particularly in the regime on sanctions for anti-doping rule violations, and in the amended International Standards. The text outlines how the current law has developed from anti-doping rules and principles in operation before the Code and explains the central role of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in this development and in applying the current Code. This third edition will be an important single resource for any reader working or studying in the field.

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• Weatherill, S., Principles and Practice in EU Sports Law, Oxford, Oxford University Press, 2017.

  

  Principles and Practice in EU Sports Law provides an overview of EU sports law. In particular it assesses sporting bodies' claims for legal autonomy from the 'ordinary law' of states and international organizations. Sporting bodies insist on using their expertise to create a set of globally applicable rules which should not be deviated from irrespective of the territory on which they are applied. The application of the lex sportiva, which refers to the conventions that define a sport's operation, is analysed, as well as how this is used in claims for sporting autonomy. The lex sportiva may generate conflicts with a state or international institution such as the European Union, and the motives behind sporting bodies' claims in favour of the lex sportiva's autonomy may be motivated by concern to uphold its integrity or to preserve commercial gain. Stephen Weatherill's text underlines the tense relationship between lex sportiva and national and regional jurisdictions which is exemplified with specific focus on the EU.

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• Haas, U. and Healey, D. (eds.), Doping in Sport and the Law, Oxford, Hart Publishing, 2017.

  

  This unique international legal and cross-disciplinary edited volume contains analysis of the legal impact of doping regulation by eminent and well known experts in the legal fields of sports doping regulation and diverse legal fields which are intrinsically important areas for consideration in the sports doping landscape. These are thoughtful extended reflections by experts on theory and policy and how they interact with law in the context of doping in sport. It is the first book to examine the topical and contentious area of sports doping from a variety of different but very relevant legal perspectives which impact the stakeholders in sport at both professional and grass roots levels. The World Anti-Doping Code contains an unusual mix of public and private regulation which is of more general interest and fully explored in this work.

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• Geeraert, A., The EU in International Sports Governance: a Principal-Agent Perspective on EU Control of FIFA and UEFA, Houndmills, Basingstoke, Hampshire, New York, NY, Palgrave Macmillan, 2016.

  

  This book demonstrates that the European Union (EU) can curtail the autonomy of FIFA and UEFA by building upon insights from the principal-agent model. The book analyses the levels of influence that the European Union (EU) has over sport governing bodies (SGBs). Contrasting with the US authorities’ decisive action, the EU seemed largely absent from the 2015 FIFA corruption saga. Even though the EU has established itself as an actor in its own right in international sports governance, there is still a lack of clarity over its capabilities to control SGBs. By employing a triangular principal-agent model, and by focusing on the case of EU control of FIFA and UEFA, the author demonstrates that the EU holds significant opportunities to control SGBs through both law and policy.

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• Moston, S. and Engelberg, T., Detecting Doping in Sport, London, New York, Routledge, 2017.

  

  This is a book about the detection of doping in sport. A recurring theme in this book is that the detection of doping has hitherto been conducted in ways that effectively ensure that doping will not be detected. This failure reflects a combination of both accidental and deliberate factors, leading to one inescapable conclusion: in most countries and in most sports, efforts to detect doping are more concerned with the need to appear to be doing something, rather than to be doing something that works. This particular idea is not new, and has even been voiced by many of those charged with leading anti-doping bodies. It would be fair to say that the inability to detect and deter doping has prompted a world-weariness among many leading scholars, such that their preferred solution is to abandon anti-doping altogether. However, while such sentiments might be roundly endorsed at conferences or in academic publications, they are essentially just background noise. Athletes, sporting bodies, sponsors and the public do not want athletes to be doping. It may be worth noting that few of those stakeholders could probably articulate what it is that they object to, and many would offer somewhat contradictory and even incoherent reasons for opposing doping, but the core opposition to doping by athletes is entrenched and shows no sign of changing.

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• Weger, F. de, The Jurisprudence of the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber, The Hague, T.M.C. Asser Press, 2016.

  

  This book addresses the most important judicial aspects in relation to the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC), as well as the different categories of disputes, inter alia, the termination of player contracts, the amount of compensation, sporting sanctions, training compensation and the solidarity mechanism. The DRC was established in 2001 by FIFA for the purpose of resolving disputes regarding the international status and transfer of players. Since then the DRC has developed into a major and influential alternative resolution body, with an impressive and ever-increasing caseload. In this updated and revised Second Edition the most important decisions of the DRC as of the date of its establishment in 2001 until 2016 are analysed. It is a reference work for those with a legal and financial interest in professional football, such as lawyers, agents, managers and administrators, but is also aimed at researchers and academics.

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• Trunz, M., Ein globaler Lösungsansatz zur Bekämpfung der Spiel- und Wettspielmanipulation im Sport, Stuttgart, Boorberg Verlag, 2016.

  

  Spiel- und Wettspielmanipulationen haben sich in den vergangenen Jahren zu einer der größten Gefahren für den modernen Sport entwickelt. Sie verletzen nicht nur die Integrität des Sports, sondern führen letztlich dazu, dass die Gesellschaft das Vertrauen in einen fairen, manipulationsfreien Sport verliert. Die Dissertation präsentiert einen weltweit praktikablen Lösungsansatz für die Bekämpfung der Spiel- und Wettspielmanipulation im Sport. In einem ersten Schritt erklärt die Verfasserin hierzu das Phänomen der Spiel- und Wettspielmanipulation und zeigt die Gefahren, die davon ausgehen, auf. Im zweiten Teil werden sowohl die verbandsrechtlichen als auch die staatlichen und überstaatlichen Maßnahmen zur Bekämpfung der Spiel- und Wettspielmanipulation im Sport dargelegt. Einen globalen Lösungsansatz zur Bekämpfung der Spiel- und Wettspielmanipulation im Sport stellt die Autorin im dritten Teil vor.
  

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• Duval, A. and Rompuy, B. van (eds.), The Legacy of Bosman : Revisiting the Relationship between EU Law and Sport, The Hague, Asser Press, 2016.

  

  In December 1995, the Court of Justice of the European Union delivered its judgment in its most famous case to date: the Bosman case. Twenty years later, this book explores in detail how this landmark judgment legally and politically transformed the relationship between the European Union and sport. This book starts by outlining the reasons for exploring the legal and political transformations triggered by the Bosman judgment over the last 20 years and beyond. Most importantly, we argue for a shift in the way the ruling is commonly interpreted. The Bosman decision of the CJEU is widely perceived in the literature and in public opinion as a deregulatory intervention by the Court. This, in our view, is a misconception that necessitates a re-reading of the ruling. We suggest that the Bosman case is displaying a democratic ethos. The duty of justification it imposes on the transnational private regulations of sports governing bodies is of a genuine ‘counter-democratic’ nature.

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Database

Blogs

• Football Leaks and Financial Fair Play

  Recently, Football Leaks revealed that Gianni Infantino, currently president of the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), during negotiations with Manchester City and Paris St. Germain, in his capacity as general secretary of European football’s governing body UEFA in 2014 agreed on reduced punishments: Manchester City and PSG overvalued sponsorship deals to help meet UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) rules. The latest documents provide insight into the activities of wealthy Gulf individuals and organisations, who have become increasingly influential in soccer and other businesses in Europe and beyond; the nature of the huge sums flowing through some leading clubs; and the uneven way soccer authorities have dealt with application of the sport’s rules.

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• World Cup Football and the Phantom of Doping

  On the eve of the 2018 World Cup finals football, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) in agreement with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), has closed its investigation into possible anti-doping rule violations by Russian football-players selected in the 2018 World Cup squad after finding ‘insufficient evidence’ to assert that players had broken rules. Russian national football-players will have to fight against two opponents: the challenging football team and the phantom of doping. But Russia has the home advantage and FIFA will be on their side.

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• Russia at the 2018 Winter Olympics?

  Russia has been banned from the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea, which begin on 9 February 2018. September 2017, the world’s leading anti-doping agencies have come together to demand Russia be banned from the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang next year and to warn the International Olympic Committee it must stop paying lip service to the fight against doping. In november 2017, the IOC’s Oswald Commission sanctioned 25 Russian athletes for using doping at the XXll Olympic Winter Games in Sochi, in 2014. The Russian athletes have been declared ineligible to be accredited in any capacity for all editions of the Games of the Olympiad and the Olympic Winter Games subsequent to the Sochi Olympic Winter Games.

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• Ambush Marketing: ‘Drinking Coca-Cola, wearing Adidas’

  Why is such attention being paid by the organizers of the London 2012 Games to the brand of footwear being worn by participants and to the drinks they will take? The answer lies in the fear of ambush marketing. This means that at the moment in London, the action on the roads, in the rings and on the courts is not the only competition. For every Olympics, and other major sporting events, ambush marketing, unfortunately, provides a sideshow.

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• Olympic Games and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)

   This evening the XXX Olympic Games will start in London. London has organized the Olympic Games twice: in 1908 and 1948. How will the Court of Arbitration for Sports be involved in Olympic Games in general and in the London Olympics in particular? “Because the IOC and each IF seek to apply and enforce a set of uniform rules consistently […]

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• Football players do not make war, but big money!

  With the European Championships Football about halftime now, this is a blog about football, football players, football players’ contracts and the increasing influence of money in professional football.

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• Athletes and whereabouts

  Whereabouts are information provided by a limited number of top elite athletes about their location to the International Sport Federation or National Anti-Doping Organization that included them in their respective registered testing pool as part of these top elite athletes’anti-doping responsibilities. What does that mean? Anti-Doping Organizations are required to have out-of-competition testing on top […]

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• Juan Antonio Samaranch (1920-2010)

  Former International Olympic Committee president Juan Antonio Samaranch has died in hospital after being taken ill at the weekend. The Spaniard was widely regarded as the most powerful man in sport when he headed the IOC from 1980 to 2001.
  His successor Jacques Rogge stated: “I cannot find the words to express the distress of the Olympic family (…) Thanks to his extraordinary vision and talent, Samaranch was the architect of a strong and unified Olympic Movement.

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• EURO 2008 and Hooliganism

  The European Football Championship, Euro 2008, will start on 7 June and finish on 29 June. This football tournament will be hosted by Austria and Switzerland.
  Thousands of fans will support their teams, celebrate victory and mourn defeat. Often these huge and massive emotions of joy and grief will result in violent clashes with supporters of rival teams and even lead to fights with the local police.
  Literature on this dark side of football can be found in the Peace Palace Library collection under the keyword hooliganism

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PPL keywords

• Sport