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International and European Sports Law – Monthly Report – November 2017. By Tomáš Grell

Editor's note: This report compiles all relevant news, events and materials on International and European Sports Law based on the daily coverage provided on our twitter feed @Sportslaw_asser. You are invited to complete this survey via the comments section below, feel free to add links to important cases, documents and articles we might have overlooked.

 

The Headlines

FIFA and FIFPro sign landmark agreement

A six-year cooperation agreement concluded between FIFA and FIFPro on 6 November 2017 puts an end to protracted negotiations which began after the latter had filed in September 2015 a complaint with the European Commission, challenging the validity of the FIFA transfer system under EU competition law. This agreement, together with an accord reached between FIFA, FIFPro, the European Club Association, and the World Leagues Forum under the umbrella of the FIFA Football Stakeholders Committee, should help streamline dispute resolution between players and clubs, avoid abusive practices in the world of football, or contribute to the growth of professional women's football. In addition, the FIFA Football Stakeholders Committee is now expected to establish a task force to study and conduct a broader review of the transfer system. As part of the deal, FIFPro agreed to withdraw its EU competition law complaint.

FIFA strengthens its human rights commitment amid reports of journalists getting arrested in Russia

It is fair to say that human rights have been at the forefront of FIFA's agenda in 2017. Following the establishment of the Human Rights Advisory Board in March and the adoption of the Human Rights Policy in June this year, in November FIFA published the bidding regulations for the 2026 World Cup. Under these new regulations, member associations bidding to host the final tournament shall, inter alia, commit themselves to respecting all internationally recognised human rights in line with the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights or present a human rights strategy on how they intend to honour this commitment. Importantly, the human rights strategy must include a comprehensive report that is to be complemented and informed by a study elaborated by an independent expert organisation. Moreover, on 9 November 2017, the Human Rights Advisory Board published its first report in which it outlined several recommendations for FIFA on how to further strengthen its efforts to ensure respect for human rights.

While all these attempts to enhance human rights protection are no doubt praiseworthy, they have not yet produced the desired effect as reports of gross human rights abuses linked to FIFA's activities continue to emerge. Most recently, Human Rights Watch documented how Russian police arrested a newspaper editor and a human rights defender whose work focused on exposing World Cup-related corruption and exploitation of migrant construction workers. On a more positive note, a bit of hope comes with the announcement by a diverse coalition, including FIFA, UEFA, and the International Olympic Committee, of its intention to launch a new independent Centre for Sport and Human Rights in 2018.

More than 20 Russian athletes sanctioned by the Oswald Commission for anti-doping rule violations at the Sochi Games   

November has been a busy month for the International Olympic Committee, especially for its Oswald Commission. Established in July 2016 after the first part of the McLaren Independent Investigation Report had been published, the Oswald Commission is tasked with investigating the alleged doping violations by Russian athletes at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. Its first sanctions were handed down last month. As of 30 November 2017, the Commission chaired by the IOC Member Denis Oswald sanctioned 22 athletes (see here, here, here, here, here, and here) who competed at the Sochi Olympics in the following sports: biathlon, bobsleigh, cross country skiing, skeleton, and speed skating. The Commission published its first full decision on 27 November 2017 in the case against the cross country skier Alexander Legkov, a gold and silver medallist from the Sochi Olympics, who was ultimately banned for life from attending another Olympics.


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Asser International Sports Law Blog | International and European Sports Law – Monthly Report – April 2017. By Tomáš Grell

Asser International Sports Law Blog

Our International Sports Law Diary
The Asser International Sports Law Centre is part of the T.M.C. Asser Instituut

International and European Sports Law – Monthly Report – April 2017. By Tomáš Grell

 Editor's note: This report compiles all relevant news, events and materials on International and European Sports Law based on the daily coverage provided on our twitter feed @Sportslaw_asser. You are invited to complete this survey via the comments section below, feel free to add links to important cases, documents and articles we might have overlooked.

 

The Headlines 

The CAS award in RFC Seraing v. FIFA

On 10 March 2017, FIFA published a short press release which praised the long-awaited award delivered by the CAS in the appeal of the Belgian football club RFC Seraing against FIFA’s decision. The French version of the award is now available on the CAS’s website.

The dispute in question emerged from agreements concluded between RFC Seraing and Doyen Sports Investments Limited, a private investment company known for its engagement in the acquisition of professional football players’ economic rights (Doyen). These agreements allowed Doyen to (i) influence the independence and the policy of the Belgian club; and (ii) receive an indemnity payable in connection with the future transfer of certain players. In September 2015, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee held that by entering into these agreements, RFC Seraing violated Articles 18bis and 18ter of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP) prohibiting the third-party influence on clubs and the third-party ownership of players’ economic rights. As a result, the Belgian club was banned from registering players on a national and international level for four consecutive registration periods and obliged to pay a fine of CHF 150,000.

On appeal, the CAS Panel has confirmed that Articles 18bis and 18ter RSTP are valid under European law and Swiss law. Having considered the sanction imposed by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee on RFC Seraing disproportionate, the CAS Panel reduced the transfer ban from four to three consecutive registration periods. For an in-depth analysis of the award, we invite you to read the recent blog written by our senior researcher Mr Antoine Duval.

The CAS award in Olga Abramova v. International Biathlon Union

On 1 January 2016, WADA prohibited the use of meldonium for the first time. A few days later, Ms Olga Abramova, a Russian-born Ukrainian biathlete, underwent an in-competition doping control which revealed the presence of meldonium in her body. An independent investigation was conducted by the Anti-Doping Hearing Panel (ADHP) of the International Biathlon Union. On 14 November 2016, the ADHP rendered a decision in which (i) Ms Abramova was found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation (meldonium); and (ii) a one-year period of ineligibility was imposed on her. Eventually, Ms Abramova appealed the said decision before the CAS.

In its press release dated 19 April 2017, the CAS announced that the appeal filed by Ms Abramova had been partially upheld. The CAS Panel has found to its comfortable satisfaction that Ms Abramova fulfilled her obligation to ensure that meldonium did not enter her body after 1 January 2016 (i.e. the date when meldonium was added to the list of prohibited substances). In other words, Ms Abramova ‘could not reasonably have known or suspected even with the exercise of utmost caution that meldonium could still be detected in her blood after 1 January 2016’. Accordingly, the CAS Panel has cancelled the one-year period of ineligibility imposed on Ms Abramova. It should be noted, however, that, in accordance with WADA Guidelines, the CAS Panel has confirmed the disqualification of any results achieved by Ms Abramova between 10 January 2016 and 3 February 2016.

France investigates potential corruption linked to the selection procedure for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup

Following the United States and Switzerland, France has recently become the third country to open a criminal investigation into potential corruption relating to the selection procedure for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup finals which are scheduled to take place in Russia and Qatar respectively. The Parquet National Financier, a French authority responsible for law enforcement against serious financial crime, has reportedly interviewed the former FIFA President Mr Joseph Blatter. The former UEFA President Mr Michel Platini, who admitted in the past that he had eventually decided to cast his vote for Qatar following a lunch with the former French President Mr Nicolas Sarkozy and senior Qatari officials, has not been interrogated by French authorities yet.

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 International Sports Law Journal, April 2017, Volume 16, Issue 3

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