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

The Editors

Dr. Antoine Duval (Editor-in-chief)

Antoine is a Senior researcher at AISLC since February 2014, before he was a PhD researcher at the European University Institute in Florence (Italy). His work focuses on the interaction between International Sports Law and EU Law. He is particularly interested in grasping the practical and theoretical relevance of the concept of lex sportiva. His recent publications are available on SSRN.

Oskar van Maren 

Oskar is a Junior Legal Counsel at FIFA's Players' Status Department since December 2017. He previously worked as a junior Researcher at AISLC between April 2014 and March 2017. He holds an LL.M in European law from Leiden University (The Netherlands). His academic interest lies mainly in the involvement of EU law in sport.

Prof. Dr. Ben Van Rompuy

Ben was the coordinator of the AISLC until August 2016. He is Assistant Professor for Competition Law at Leiden university and Visiting Professor for Competition Policy and Media Regulation at the VUB in Brussels. His research focuses primarily on EU law, competition law, and regulatory issues in the sports and media sectors and on the protection of the integrity of sports competitions (financial fair play, match-fixing).

Dr. Ryan Gauthier

Ryan Gauthier is a consultant and lecturer on sports law, based out of Vancouver, Canada. Ryan defended his PhD at Erasmus University Rotterdam in December 2015. His dissertation examined human rights violations caused by international sporting events, and how international sporting organisations may be held accountable for these violations.

Beverly Williamson

Beverley is a PhD candidate at Newcastle University (England).  Her research considers the regulatory dynamics of competition law in the UK, and the relationship between competition law and sport.  She has a special interest in competition law issues in professional rugby union. 

Emily Wisnosky

An attorney admitted to the California bar, Emily specializes in anti-doping and international sports arbitration law. She currently participates as a scientific collaborator at the University of Neuchâtel on a research project to produce the first article-by-article legal commentary of the 2015 World Anti-Doping Code. This project is conducted at the University of Neuchâtel and supported by a grant by the Swiss National Science Foundation. As a component of this project, she also pursues doctoral research on the role of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in anti-doping disputes.

Dr Marjolaine Viret
Marjolaine is a researcher and attorney admitted to the Geneva bar (Switzerland) who specialises in sports and life sciences. Her interests focus on interdisciplinary approaches as a way of designing effective solutions in the field of anti-doping and other science-based domains. Her book “Evidence in Anti-Doping at the Intersection of Science & Law” was published through T.M.C Asser Press / Springer in late 2015. She participates as a co-author on a project hosted by the University of Neuchâtel to produce the first article-by-article legal commentary of the 2021 World Anti-Doping Code. In her practice, she regularly advises international federations and other sports organisations on doping and other regulatory matters, in particular on aspects of scientific evidence, privacy or research regulation. She also has experience assisting clients in arbitration proceedings before the Court of Arbitration for Sport or other sport tribunals.
Yann Hafner
Yann is a PhD student and a scientific collaborator at the University of Neuchâtel (Switzerland). His research focuses mainly on the concept of sporting nationality, i.e. athletes' eligibility in national team. Besides his academics involvements, Yann works for an International Federation based in Lausanne, Switzerland.
Christopher A. Flanagan
Christopher holds a degree in law from the University of Exeter, a master’s degree in International Banking and Finance Law from the University of the West of England, and a post graduate diploma in legal practice, also from the University of the West of England. His research interests cover a spectrum of sports law topics, with a focus on financial regulatory disputes, particularly in professional football, a topic on which he has regularly lectured at the University of the West of England. Christopher spent a number of years managing litigation in-house at a ‘Big Four’ bank before moving into private practice to complete his professional training.