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
What a month June
turned out to be. Waking up the morning after the 23rd, the results
of the UK referendum on EU membership were final. The words of Mark Twain: “Apparently
there is nothing that cannot happen today”, might provide the most apt
description of the mood felt at the time.[1]
The Leave campaign’s narrow victory has brought along tremendous economic,
political and legal uncertainties for both the UK and the (other) Member
States. To give but one example, with regard to the implications of Brexit on Europe’s
most profiting football league, we recommend an older blog
by Daniel Geey and Jonny Madill.
Perhaps just as
shocking as the UK’s wish for secession, was the Bundesgerichtshof decision in the infamous Pechstein case. On 7 June
the highest German civil court ruled in favour of the
validity of forced CAS arbitration and the independence of the CAS, leaving
Claudia Pechstein to cough up roughly EUR 300 000 in legal expenses. For a
critical analysis of the decision see Antoine
Duval’s blog.
Operación Puerto, deemed
“one of the most infamous and obscure doping sagas in history”, saw a new
chapter being added on 14 June. A Spanish
special criminal appeal chamber held that the more than
200 blood bags of professional athletes (which had been stored since their
confiscation in 2006) can be delivered to the Spanish Anti-Doping Agency
(AEPSAD), WADA, the UCI and the Italian Olympic Committee (CONI). Oskar van
Maren examined the case in a blog.
Last but not least,
in June we witnessed the IAAF
upholding its decision not to reinstate the Russian Athletics
Federation (RusAF) for IAAF Membership. This means that Russian athletes will
still not be allowed to compete in International Competitions under IAAF Rules including
the European Championships and the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. A few days later,
the 21th of June, the IOC
endorsed IAAF’s position. Though it also potentially opened the
door for Russian athletes to demonstrate that they are clean. The IAAF’s
decision was appealed collectively by 61 Russian athletes to the CAS, and the
final decision is due before the start of the Olympic Games in Rio.
Case law
On June 3rd a temporary
injunction was granted by the Landgericht München in the
case between the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and FIBA Europe
versus several basketball clubs. The court ruled that FIBA may not prevent
these clubs from participating in the so-called Euroleague competitions. The
alleged abuse of a dominant position is addressed in a blog by
Marine Montejo. Yet the
injunction was annulled in a subsequent decision of the LG München.
Famous tennis star
Maria Sharapova was found to have violated anti-doping rules for the use of the
controversial ‘meldonium’. A specially appointed independent tribunal
imposed a two-year ban, disqualifying her from professional
tennis from 26 January 2016 to 25 January 2018 (see also this piece by James Segan). In reply, she appealed the decision to
the CAS, which is
due to decide the case in September. This will prevent
her from participating at the Olympic Games in Rio.
A key player in our Unpacking
Doyen’s TPO deals blogs, football club FC Twente, found
itself in a rollercoaster of conflicting decisions during the end of season
2015/2016. On 18 May the licensing committee of the Dutch football federation
(KNVB) issued a decision in which
it relegated the club to the second (and lowest) professional league. It did so
by creating a new ad hoc license for
the second league, which did not exist before. Subsequently on 10 June, in
summary proceedings before the district court, FC
Twente’s request for provisional measures got rejected, and the relegation approved.
Yet only a week later, the KNVB’s
appeal committee overturned the licensing committee’s initial ruling.
As a result FC Twente
will stay in the highest professional league.
Official documents and Press releases
CAS – Statement on
the decision made by the German Federal Tribunal in the case between Claudia
Pechstein and the International Skating Union (ISU)
CAS – Maria
Sharapova files an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Tennis,
Anti-doping
CAS – List
upcoming hearings
CAS – KS
Skenderbeu files an appeal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, Football
CAS – The Appeal
filed by Galatasaray SK is rejected by the Court of Arbitration for Sport
European Council - Council
conclusions on enhancing integrity, transparency and good governance in major
sport events
European Commission
- Mapping and Analysis of the Specificity of Sport, A Final
Report to the DG Education & Culture of the European Commission
FIBA - FIBA Europe welcomes Munich court decision to cancel
temporary injunction
FIFA - Attorneys
for FIFA provide update on internal investigation and details on compensation
for former top officials
FIFA - Overview
of Important Provisions contained in the Employment Contracts of Messrs.
Blatter, Valcke and Kattner since 2007
FIFA - Circular
no. 1542, Amendments to the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players
FIFA - Circular
no. 1545, FIFA Forward Programme/2016 financial support - operational costs
IAAF – Ethics board statement 10 June 2016
IAAF - Response
to Ethics Board statement
IAAF - Decision on Russia's
participation in Rio Olympics
IAAF – IAAF
Taskforce: Interim report to IAAF Council, 17 June 2016
IOC - Declaration of the Olympic
Summit
ISU - Decision of
the Bundesgerichtshof in the case of Ms. Claudia Pechstein
KNVB – Besluit licentiecommissie betaald voetbal 26 november 2015
WADA - International
Standard for Laboratories (ISL)
WADA - WADA Update
regarding Maria Sharapova Case
WADA - Acknowledges Madrid Court decision to provide access to
"Operation Puerto" athlete blood bags
WADA - WADA Suspends the Accreditation of the Almaty Laboratory
In the news
Athletics
Rebecca R. Ruiz, Juliet Macur and Ian Austen - Even With Confession of
Cheating, World’s Doping Watchdog Did Nothing
Cycling
Stuart Clarke - Judge rules athletes
implicated in Operation Puerto can be identified
Culture, Media and Sport Committee – Whistleblower Dan Stevens in front of the Committee
Football
Guardian - Football
clubs in England’s top four tiers generated more than £4bn in 2014-15
Brian Homewood - No formal proceedings against
FIFA chief Infantino says ethics committee
Mary Papenfuss - Auditor KPMG pulling out of
Fifa because of 'lack of commitment' to reform
SBD - Barcelona Pleads Guilty To Fraud In Neymar Case,
Agrees To Pay $6.2M Fine
Olympics
Nick Butler - Exclusive: Clause at centre of
European Championships contract row is "superseded"
James M. Dorsey - Kuwaiti Rulers Fight their
Internal Battles on the Sports Field
Sam Morshead - 'It's like a badminton player
playing tennis': Boxing comes under fire after voting for professionals to
compete at Rio Olympics just 10 weeks before the Games
Dan Roan - Russia and Rio 2016: How
the IOC is working up an Olympic compromise
SBS - Sailors take
Olympic appeal bid to CAS
Pechstein case
Deutschlandfunk - "Sportler
sollten Gerichtsbarkeit wählen können"
FAZ - Claudia
Pechstein droht Schuldenberg
FIFPro - Despite decision, Pechstein
must trigger reform
Johannes Herber - Urteil im Fall Pechstein,
"Siegen oder sterben"
Swimming
Kor. Herald - Park Tae-hwan resumes
arbitration proceedings against Olympic ban
David Leggat - Kane Radford, Charlotte
Webby set to appeal Olympic snubs
Academic materials
Dawn Aquilina and
Angelo Chetcuti, The
Aftermath of a Match-Fixing Case that Shook Two Nations: Insights into How
Malta and Norway Are Seeking to Redeem Their Football
Bruce W. Bean, FIFA —
The
Reform Charade Continues
Richard Bunworth - Egg-shell
skulls or institutional negligence? The liability of World Rugby for incidents
of concussion suffered by professional players in England and Ireland
Antoine Duval, Getting
to the games: the Olympic selection drama(s) at the court of arbitration for
sport
Antoine Duval, Herman
Ram, Marjolaine Viret, Emily Wisnosky, Howard L. Jacobs and Mike Morgan - The World
Anti-Doping Code 2015: ASSER International Sports Law Blog symposium
Arnout Geeraert and
Edith Drieskens, Theorising
the EU and International Sport: The Principal-Agent Model and Beyond
Andrew C. Harmes, Forecheck,
backcheck . . . paycheck? Employment status of the quasi-professional athlete:
A case study of the CHL and the Major junior hockey player
Thomas Margoni, The
Protection of Sports Events in the EU: Property, Intellectual Property, Unfair
Competition and Special Forms of Protection
Despina Mavromati, The
Legality of an Arbitration Agreement in Favour of CAS Under German Civil and
Competition Law - The Pechstein Ruling of the German Federal Tribunal (BGH) of
7 June 2016
Karen Petry, The
Beginnings and Development of European Sport Research at Universities: From
Marginalisation to Fragmentation?
Ryan M. Rodenberg,
Jeff Sackmann and Chris Groer - Tennis
integrity: a sports law analytics review
Stephen Kirwan, Levelling
the Playing Field? Remuneration Caps, EU Competition Law and Article 7(3) of
the FIFA Regulations on Working With Intermediaries
Zachary Shapiro, Regulation,
prohibition, and dantasy: The case of FanDuel, DraftKings, and Daily Fantasy
Sports in New York and Massachusetts
Joshua D. Winneker,
Philip Schultze and Sam C. Ehrlich, Lights,
Camera, … Injury! The NBA Needs to Ban Courtside Cameramen
Books
Michael Barry, James
Skinner and Terry Engelberg, Research
Handbook of Employment Relations in Sport
Antoine Duval, Ben
Van Rompuy (Eds.), The Legacy of Bosman,
Revisiting the Relationship Between EU Law and Sport
LawInSport and the
British Association for Sport and Law, Sports
Law Yearbook 2015/16 - UK, Ireland and EU eBook.
Götz Schulze, Aktuelle
Rechtsfragen im Profifußball: Psychologische Faktoren und rechtliche Gestaltung
Taschenbuch
Blogs
Gregory Basnier, Joint
selling of French Rugby’s tv rights: A review of the recent competition law
cases
Carol Couse and Jake
Cohen, The
potential impact of Brexit on European football
Johanna Croon-Gestefeld, Der BGH und
Pechstein: Transnationaler Konstitutionalismus sieht anders aus
Thomas Croxford and
Nick De Marco, Fiduciary
duties, football, and the fundamental importance of the contractual
relationship
Juan de Dios and
Crespo Pérez, Operación
Puerto: A long and winding road in the fight against doping
Antoine Duval, The BGH’s
Pechstein Decision: A Surrealist Ruling
Antoine Duval, The Pechstein
case: Transnational constitutionalism in inaction at the Bundesgerichtshof
Antonia Foster, Advice
for Athletes facing false allegations by the press – Practical and Legal
Options
Ryan Lake, Signing new talent: How the entry draft system works
in the National Hockey League
Daniel Lowen, Determining
the level of compensations for out of contract football players: The PFCC Danny
Ings Award
Jonny Madill and Jack
Jones, Sharing
sports clips in the digital age: 6 things you should know
Oskar van Maren, The EU
State aid and Sport Saga: Hungary revisited? (Part 2)
Oskar van Maren, Operación
Puerto Strikes Back!
Kester Mekenkamp, The
Müller case: Revisiting the compatibility of fixed term contracts in football
with EU Law
Lance Miller, Celeste
Koravos and Nick Fitzpatrick, Sustainable
procurement at Tokyo 2020 Olympics: Top 10 tips for a winning bid
Marine Montejo, FIBA/Euroleague:
Basketball’s EU Competition Law Champions League- first leg in the Landgericht
München
Kimberly Morris and
Barry Lysaght, How FIFA
TMS Investigations increase transparency and accountability in international
football transfers
Tim Owen, Sport,
corruption and the criminal law: the need for an expert investigative body
Fabian Reinholz, Das
Pechstein urteil nimmt dem sport reformdruck
Jennifer E. Rothman
and Eugene Volokh, Brief of
28 constitutional law and intellectual property law professors as Amici Curiae
in support of petitioner in, No. 15-1388, In the Supreme Court of the United
States, National Collegiate Athletic Association, petitioner, v. Edward C.
O’Bannon et al., Respondents
James Segan, A riddle
wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma: the Sharapova case
Andrew Smith, A review
of the updates to FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players
The Swiss Rambler, Nottingham
Forest - From The Ritz To The Rubble
The Swiss Rambler, Wolverhampton
Wanderers - After The Gold Rush
WADC Commentary Team,
Meldonium
and Moral Fault: Five Lessons Learned from the Sharapova ITF Tribunal Decision
Mathias Wittinghofer
and Sylvia Schenk, A Never
Ending Story: Claudia Pechstein’s Challenge to the CAS
John Wolohan, The
integrity of education in college sport: does the NCAA model compromise athlete
welfare?
Upcoming events
14 July - Sports Corruption 2016 Conference, MBL Seminars London
19 – 21 July - Executive
Programme in International Sports Law, Sports Law and Policy
Centre, Ravello, Italy
2 & 3 September - International
Sport Arbitration 6th Conference CAS & SAV, The Court of
Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the Swiss Bar Association (SAV / FSA) and the
Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA), Lausanne Switzerland
16 September - The future
of the ‘legal autonomy’ of sport, Anglia Ruskin
University, Cambridge, UK
26 September - Soccerex - Global Convention 2016, Manchester, UK
[1] Mark Twain, American
author (30 November 1835/21 April 1910)