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

• 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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• Hilpert, H., Nationale und internationale Fußballrechtsprechung, Wien, Jan Sramek Verlag, 2016.

  

  Das Sammelwerk über die Fußballrechtsprechung berichtet über die Rechtsfälle des Spielbetriebs. Vor den materiellen rechtlichen Ausführungen gibt der Verfasser einen Rückblick auf die Sportrechtsgeschichte. Im Mittelpunkt der Darstellung stehen die bedeutsamen Fälle der jüngsten Vergangenheit und der Gegenwart. Ein Einschnitt erfolgte dabei durch das Eindringen der Technik in dieses Rechtsgebiet. Die Erfahrung mit der Torlinientechnik wird überwiegend positiv geschildert. Teilweise jedoch mit Einschränkungen, etwa bei den head-sets, die den Schiedsrichter mit seinen Kollegen von der Linie verbinden. Dies würde nach Meinung einiger Bundestrainer den Hauptschiedsrichter von seiner eigentlichen Aufgabe ablenken. Der Autor berichtet über das weitere Voranschreiten der Technik: Der Videobeweis, der in den Niederlanden schon gilt, soll auch in Deutschland in einer Versuchsphase getestet werden. Das Buch zeigt jedenfalls die Fragezeichen auf. Gerechtigkeit und Fair-play im LändervergleichDer Anhang enthält – erstmalig im deutschsprachigen Raum – einen Vergleich einzelner sportrechtlicher Fragestellungen für Deutschland, die Schweiz und Österreich. Von diesem Werk profitieren außer Sportrechtswissenschaftlern insbesondere Sportrichter.

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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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• Mavromati, D. and Reeb, M, The Code of the Court of Arbitration for Sport: Commentary, Cases and Materials, Alphen aan den Rijn, Wolters Kluwer, Law & Business, 2015.

  

  The Code of the Court of Arbitration for Sport: Commentary, Cases and Materials is a comprehensive exploration of the provisions of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). Providing detailed analysis of the CAS Rules, this is an indispensable work of reference for all sports law practitioners. Each provision is viewed within the larger context of international arbitration, in Switzerland, and procedural solutions are suggested which are transposable to international arbitration generally.

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• Viret, M., Evidence in Anti-Doping at the Intersection of Science and Law, The Hague, Asser Press, 2016.

  

  This book is a comprehensive, practice-oriented guide to the evidentiary regime under the 2015 World Anti-Doping Code (WADC) including the functioning of the Athlete Biological Passport. It is the first to show how the interplay between science and law affects the collection and evaluation of evidence in anti-doping, and how paradigm shifts in anti-doping strategies may modify evidentiary assumptions implicit to the WADC regime.

  Unique in its dealing with the subtleties of anti-doping science and legal implications, the book gives lawyers involved in anti-doping the keys to a better understanding of the science underlying the WADC regime, while providing anti-doping scientists with the first reference material to understand the legal framework in which their activities are embedded.

  The emphasis of the book is on international doping cases and it relies predominantly on CAS awards published up to Spring 2015. Written by an experienced Swiss lawyer it provides an insight into the Swiss legal system and its importance for the legal practice in doping matters.

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• Pieth, M. (ed.), Reforming FIFA, Zürich/St. Gallen, Dike Verlag, 2014.

  

  Die FIFA, wie andere Sportdachverbände auch, wurde der Intransparenz und Korruption beschuldigt. Sie hat sich jedoch jüngst entschieden, Reformen einzuleiten. Eine Gruppe erfahrener unabhängiger Governance-Experten und Stakeholder wurde damit beauftragt, den Reformprozess zu beaufsichtigen. Dieser Gruppe, dem Independent Governance Committee (IGC), ist es vor allem gelungen, unabhängige Kommissionsvorsitzende, Ermittler und Richter einzusetzen. Der Reformprozess ist jedoch nicht abgeschlossen. Einige ehemalige IGC-Mitglieder vermitteln in diesem Buch faszinierende Einblicke in die Arbeitsweise der FIFA, des unbekannten Giganten der Fußballwelt.

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Database

Blogs

• 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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Links

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PPL keywords

• Sport