Asser 50 years - International and European Sports Law Symposium

In December 1995, the Court of Justice delivered its judgment in the Bosman case – one of the few cases of the Union courts that resonate in the mind of European citizens. The judgment has been fundamental in shaping the relationship between EU law and sport.

Following a series of Round Table Sessions in the beginning of 1996, the ruling also laid the foundations for the ASSER International Sports Law Centre. Since then, International and European sports law has developed into one of the main areas of research within the Asser Institute.

Initially, various stakeholders perceived Bosman as a threat, marking the intrusion of EU law into sport. Instead, it sparked a constructive, though sometimes controversial, dialogue and enduring partnership between the sporting world and the EU. Since then, the EU, and especially the European Commission, has played an instrumental role in the way sport is regulated in Europe. The way in which the football transfer system is set up, the way media rights are marketed, the way the World Anti-Doping Agency operates, … can all be traced back in one way or another to the influence of the EU. This does not encroach the autonomy of sports governing bodies, but is in fact a recipe for the democratic governance of sport.

20 years after Bosman, this Symposium looks back to this landmark ruling and explores its significant legal and political relevance, covering both general questions of EU law and specific developments of EU sports law and policy. 

Time: 09.30 - 17.30 hrs, followed by a reception

>>Download the final programme (pdf)