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 Court of Arbitration for Sport bans 12 Russian track and field athletes

On 1 February 2019, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) communicated that it had rendered another 12 decisions in the seemingly endless saga concerning the state-sponsored doping programme in Russia. These first-instance decisions of the CAS involve 12 Russian track and field athletes who were all found guilty of anti-doping rule violations based on the evidence underlying the reports published by professor Richard McLaren and suspended from participating in sports competitions for periods ranging from two to eight years. Arguably the most prominent name that appears on the list of banned athletes is Ivan Ukhov, the 32-year-old high jump champion from the 2012 Olympic Games in London.

The case was brought by the International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF) that sought to convince the arbitrators that the athletes in question had participated in and/or benefited from anabolic steroid doping programmes and benefited from specific protective methods (washout schedules) in the period between the 2012 Olympic Games in London and the 2013 IAAF World Championships in Moscow. The CAS was acting in lieau of the Russian Athletics Federation that remains suspended and thus unable to conduct any disciplinary procedures. The athletes have had the opportunity to appeal the decisions to the CAS Appeals Arbitration Division.

Federal Cartel Office in Germany finds Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter disproportionately restrictive

At the end of February, the German competition authority Bundeskartellamt announced that it had entered into a commitment agreement with the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in which these two organisations had agreed to considerably enhance advertising opportunities for German athletes and their sponsors during the Olympic Games. The respective agreement is a direct consequence of the Bundeskartellamt’s finding that the IOC and the DOSB had abused their dominant position on the market for organising and marketing the Olympic Games by demanding that the athletes refrain from promoting their own sponsors while the Games are ongoing, as well as shortly before and after the Games. This restriction stems from Rule 40(3) of the Olympic Charter under which no competitor who participates in the Games may allow his person, name, picture or sports performances to be used for advertising purposes, unless the IOC Executive Board allows him/her to do so.

As part of fulfilling its obligations under the commitment agreement, the DOSB has relaxed its guidelines on promotional activities of German athletes during the Olympic Games. For its part, the IOC has declared that these new guidelines would take precedence over Rule 40(3) of the Olympic Charter. However, it still remains to be seen whether in response to the conclusions of the German competition authority the IOC will finally change the contentious rule.

The Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights refuses to pronounce itself on Claudia Pechstein’s case

Claudia Pechstein’s challenge against the CAS brought before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) has not yielded the desired result for the German athlete. On 5 February 2019, a Panel of the Grand Chamber of the ECtHR decided that the Grand Chamber would not entertain the case. This means that the judgment handed down by the 3^rd Chamber of the ECtHR on 2 October 2018, in which the ECtHR confirmed that except for the lack of publicity of oral hearings the procedures of the CAS are compatible with the right to a fair trial under Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights, has now become final and binding. However, the protracted legal battle between the five-time Olympic champion in speed skating and the CAS is not over yet since there is one more challenge against the CAS and its independence pending before the German Constitutional Court. 

Sports Law Related Decisions

•  European Court of Human Rights – Decision on the application of Josip Šimunić against Croatia
• European Court of Justice – Opinion of Advocate General Tandev in the case C-22/18 TopFit e.V. and Daniele Biffi v. Deutscher Leichtathletikverband e.V.
• General Court of the European Union – Judgment of the General Court in the case T-679/16 Athletic Club v. European Commission
• General Court of the European Union – Judgment of the General Court in the case T-865/16 Fútbol Club Barcelona v. European Commission

Official Documents and Press Releases 

CAS

• CAS – Decision in the arbitration procedure between Worawi Makudi and FIFA: Sanction reduced
• CAS – Galatasaray v. UEFA – The Court of Arbitration for Sport reinstates the decision rendered by the UEFA Club Financial Control Body Investigatory Chamber and the resulting settlement agreement
• CAS – The CAS hearing in the arbitration procedure involving Caster Semenya, Athletics South Africa (ASA) and the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) has concluded
• CAS – Caster Semenya, Athletics South Africa (ASA) and International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF): Planning update
• CAS – The Court of Arbitration for Sport amends the periods of ineligibility of Ukrainian sprinters Olha Zemliak and Olesia Povh
• CAS – The Court of Arbitration for Sport issues decisions in 12 first-instance disciplinary procedures concerning Russian track and field athletes
• CAS – The Court of Arbitration for Sport upholds the appeal filed by Paris Saint-Germain
• CAS – The Court of Arbitration for Sport upholds the appeal of Stefan Luitz
• CAS – The European Court of Human Rights rejects the request of Claudia Pechstein to refer her case to the Grand Chamber of ECtHR

FIFA

• FIFA – Chelsea FC, The Football Association sanctioned for international transfers of minors
• FIFA – FIFA and Qatar announce joint venture to deliver 2022 FIFA World Cup
• FIFA – FIFA, CAF and African Union sign historic memorandum of understanding on education, anti-corruption and safety`
• FIFA – FIFA Council votes for the introduction of a revamped FIFA Club World Cup
• FIFA – FIFA’s big 5 transfer window analysis: $642.8m January outlay on international transfers
• FIFA – Infantino and Putin discuss World Cup legacy and continued support for Russian football
• FIFA – Joint statement from FIFA and CONMEBOL regarding Colombia
• FIFA – Portuguese club FC Porto sanctioned under third-party influence rules

IOC

• IOC – Independent research conducted on behalf of the IOC demonstrates global strength of the Olympic values
• IOC – IOC Evaluation Commission attests to sustainability of Stockholm-Are project in line with Olympic Agenda 2020
• IOC – IOC sanctions three athletes for failing anti-doping tests at London 2012
• IOC – IOC-supported guide outlines how sustainable venues can help conserve nature
• IOC – Levelling the field: A snapshot of how the IOC is advancing gender equality in sport
• IOC – Tokyo 2020 reveals progress on sustainability

UEFA

• UEFA – Aleksander Čeferin re-elected UEFA President until 2023
• UEFA – Investigatory Chamber opens investigation into Manchester City
• UEFA – UEFA and European Club Association sign memorandum of understanding

WADA

• WADA – WADA announces self-suspension of the Helsinki laboratory
• WADA – WADA declares the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea Anti-Doping Committee non-compliant with World Anti-Doping Code    
• WADA – WADA publishes Independent Observer Team report from 2018 Asian Games
• WADA – WADA removes gymnastics from compliance watchlist
• WADA – WADA removes Nigeria from World Anti-Doping Code non-compliant list
• WADA – WADA statement on police raids in Austria and Germany
• WADA – WADA update on progress regarding Moscow Laboratory data
• WADA – WADA welcomes latest Court of Arbitration for Sport decisions
• WADA – World Anti-Doping Code and International Standards review the main focus at 2019 WADA Annual Symposium
• WADA – WADA Athlete Committee publishes 2019 Symposium Athlete Session summary

Other

• Athletics Integrity Unit – Athletics Integrity Unit welcomes CAS decision to sanction 12 Russian athletes based on the evidence underlying the McLaren reports
• Bundeskartellamt – German athletes and their sponsors obtain further advertising opportunities during the Olympic Games following Bundeskartellamt action – IOC and DOSB undertake to change the advertising guidelines
• European Leagues – Accounting for football players and financial fair play
• General Court of the European Union – The General Court annuls the Commission’s decision classifying the tax regime of four Spanish professional football clubs as State aid
• International Paralympic Committee – IPC to lift Russia suspension
• Tennis Integrity Unit – David Nordfeldt suspended and fined for betting on tennis
• Tennis Integrity Unit – Mauricio Alvarez-Guzman banned for life for tennis match-fixing and associated corruption offences
• T.M.C. Asser Institute – Asser takes part in a research project on EU sports diplomacy
• United Nations Human Rights Council – Resolution on elimination of discrimination against women and girls in sport
• USADA – International anti-doping leaders call on watershed opportunity to reform anti-doping system

In the news

Doping

• Associated Press 9 people arrested in doping raids in Austria and Germany

• BBC Sport Doping bans for 12 Russian athletes including 2012 Olympic champion Ivan Ukhov
• BBC Sport Russia doping scandal: IAAF upholds ban on Russian athletes until further notice
• Sean Ingle Geraint Thomas says cycling now ‘one of the cleanest sports around’
• Sean Ingle Russia’s Paralympic doping ban lifted after IPC praises ‘significant reforms’
• Sean Ingle Team GB cyclist backs athletes’ movement after frustration with WADA
• Duncan Mackay France issue arrest warrants for former IAAF treasurer and senior coach of Russian athletics team
• Duncan Mackay Olympic and world champions among Russian athletes banned after CAS ruling
• Duncan Mackay Russian Athletics Federation President admits he expected athletes to be banned by CAS based on Rodchenkov evidence
• Dan Palmer Austrian skier admits to recent doping as drugs investigation continues, reports claim
• Dan Palmer CAS overturns disqualification of Alpine Skiing World Cup winner after oxygen tank row
• Dan Palmer Council of Europe approve Bańka as WADA President candidate
• Dan Palmer International Paralympic Committee confirm conditional reinstatement of Russia
• Dan Palmer Twenty-one athletes suspected of being part of international doping ring following Seefeld raid
• Dan Palmer Ukrainian sprinters fail in bid to get drugs bans overturned at CAS
• Dan Palmer WADA finish upload of Moscow Laboratory data and prepare to check for authenticity
• Sportschau Bloody Business – new details emerge after doping raid

Football

• Ed Aarons Criminal or whistleblower? The story of the man behind Football Leaks
• Ed Aarons Manchester City set to add third-tier Chinese club to global portfolio
• David Conn Re-elected Čeferin stresses UEFA opposition to European Super League
• David Conn UEFA launches formal investigation into Manchester City’s FFP conduct
• Helen Davidson He’s free, but who’s to blame for Hakeem al-Araibi’s ordeal?
• Helen Davidson Human error and outdated IT led to Hakeem al-Araibi’s detention, says border force official
• Helen Davidson and Hannah Ellis-Petersen Hakeem al-Araibi on flight to Australia after release in Thailand
• Helen Davidson and Hannah Ellis-Petersen Hakeem al-Araibi: Power, politics, football and the will of the people
• Rob Harris FIFA explores Kuwait and Oman as 2022 World Cup co-hosts
• David Hytner Chelsea to appeal after being hit with transfer ban for two windows by FIFA
• David Hytner and Dominic Fifield Chelsea ‘astonished’ after FIFA rejects club’s request to freeze transfer ban
• Mike Hytner and Helen Davidson Hakeem al-Araibi: FFA cancels team trip to Thailand in support of refugee footballer
• Sean Ingle FIFA facing urgent calls to investigate Qatar World Cup bid claims
• Duncan Mackay Court of Arbitration for Sport lift FIFA ban on Makudi after successful appeal
• Duncan Mackay Former Socceroos captain claims Australia decision to support Sheikh Salman AFC election campaign is ‘sickening’
• Duncan Mackay Sheikh Salman to be re-elected unopposed as President of AFC after last opponent withdraws
• James Montague and Tariq Panja Ahead of Qatar World Cup, a Gulf feud plays out in the shadows
• Dan Palmer Former FIFA senior vice president Chung handed six-and-a-half year ban
• Dan Palmer UEFA charge Montenegro over alleged racist abuse against England
• Tariq Panja Feud over soccer piracy deepens as A.F.C. ends beIN sports contract
• Tariq Panja FIFA approves plan for new Club World Cup, to Europe’s dismay
• Tariq Panja Hacker who leaked soccer’s secrets loses extradition hearing
• Press Association Cardiff to tell FIFA that Emiliano Sala’s transfer from Nantes was invalid
• Barney Ronay Sportswashing and the tangled web of Europe’s biggest clubs

Other

• Graham Dunbar Victory for Olympic athletes in Germany to promote sponsors
• EurekAlert! Testosterone limits for female athletes based on ‘flawed’ research
• Bryan Armen Graham Colin Kaepernick reaches settlement with NFL over kneeling protest fallout
• Saja Hindi 51 women, girls sue U.S. Olympic Committee in federal court in Colorado for failing to stop sexual abuse by Larry Nasar
• Sean Ingle Caster Semenya: IAAF denies it wants to classify athlete as biological male
• Sean Ingle Caster Semenya is ‘unquestionably a woman’ say her lawyers
• Sean Ingle Caster Semenya case verdict postponed until end of April
• Sean Ingle F1 accused of ‘turning blind eye’ over activist’s jailing in Bahrain
• Sean Ingle Sports stars weigh in on row over transgender athletes
• Duncan Mackay American hijab pioneer slams French politicians campaigning against it in Paris 2024 build-up
• Duncan Mackay Row over sale of running hijab highlights divisive nature of debate in Paris 2024 build-up
• Duncan Mackay Takeda officially no longer an IOC member after resignation accepted
• Dan Palmer Government commissioned survey predicts financial boost for Italy if country wins race for 2026 Winter Olympics
• Dan Palmer Semenya accuses Coe of ‘reopening old wounds’ as war of words intensifies

Academic Materials

International Sports Law Journal

• Antonio Di Marco The International Governance of Sporting Organisations: International Convergences on an Idea of Democracy
• Johan Lindholm The Netflix-ication of Sports Broadcasting
• Roger Pielke Jr., Ross Tucker and Erik Boye Scientific Integrity and IAAF Testosterone Regulations
• Hubert Radke Basketball Arbitral Tribunal (BAT) as a ‘Lawmaker’: The Creation of Global Standards of Basketball Contracts Through Consistent Arbitral Decision-Making 

Other

• Simon Boyes Ken Foster and the Genesis of Sports Law: A Personal Perspective
•  Ken Foster Global Sports Law Revisited
• Steve Greenfield, Mark James and Guy Osborn Ken Foster and the Development of UK Sports Law: A Reflective Interview
• Harvard Journal of Sports & Entertainment Law Volume 10, Issue 1`
• Ivan Waddington and Verner Moller WADA At Twenty: Old Problems and Old Thinking?

Blog

Law in Sport

• Carlos Carnero and Eduardo Montejo Why Spain’s approach to taxing image rights and agency income is discouraging overseas footballers
• Alex Haffner and Thomas Edwards Sailing into choppy waters? World Sailing under the competition law microscope
• Wouter Janssens The Basketball Arbitral Tribunal’s policy on publishing written reasons – does it strike the right balance between speed and legal certainty?
• Douglas N. Masters How technology is improving the fan experience – and creating legal challenges for clubs and leagues
• Elio Andrea Palmitessa Managing athlete image rights in Italy: Key considerations for structuring and accounting under the new tax regime
• Katarina Pijetlovic FINA’s decision to allow market access to rival competitions – a turn of the tide in professional swimming
• Celia Rooney A cautionary tale for arbitrators in sports law disputes – lessons from Fleetwood Wanderers v AFC Fylde
• Tom Rudkin Litigation privilege hammered? Key points for sports organisations on the scope of litigation privilege from the West Ham Stadium case
• Rustam Sethna A case for ending football’s mid-season transfer window
• Aaron Swerdlow In-stadium, real-time sports betting in the United States – an overview of legal issues facing clubs and leagues
• Leigh Thompson An assessment of the Council of Europe’s recommendations on the promotion of good governance in sport

Other

• Hakeem al-Araibi Running from Bahrain’s dark side
• Andy Brown Caster Semenya’s challenge to the DSD regulations: It’s complicated…
• Rafael Buschmann, Nicola Naber and Michael Wulzinger Possible conflict of interest dogs Football Leaks probe
• Paul Dimeo and Verner Moller The horror of the scapegoat
• Kelsey Erickson and Susan Backhouse Whistleblowing – Athletes shouldn’t have to choose between their careers and the truth
• Sean Ingle Court has Semenya’s career in its hands – and decision could affect all of sport
• Sean Ingle Football needs to get house in order over concussion, and it is not alone
• Katrina Karkazis Stop talking about testosterone – there’s no such thing as a ‘true sex’
• Alex Kay-Jelski There is no evidence of a crusade to obliterate women’s sport
• Alex Kelham German Olympians win relaxation of marketing rules
• Despina Mavromati No surprises – The first IOC appeal against a CAS award (CAS 2017/A/5379) dismissed by the Swiss Federal Tribunal
• Ann Peel The debate in sports over the definition of womanhood is paternalistic – and hypocritical
• Najah Yusuf Every moment I spend in prison in Bahrain stains the reputation of F1

Upcoming Events

• 26-27 April – Football, Finance and the Law, Lille, France
• 8 May – FIFA and Human Rights: Impacts, Policies and Responsibilities, T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague, Netherlands
• 16-18 May – 45^th Annual Sports Lawyers Association Conference, JW Marriott Desert Ridge, Phoenix, USA
• 22-23 May – Football Law 2019: Player Transfers, Agents, Politics and the Business of Football, London, UK
• 13-14 June – EU Law in Sport: Latest Trends, Brussels, Belgium
• 27-28 June – 14^th Sport&EU Annual Conference, Valleta, Malta
• 30 June -14 July – CLS Summer School 2019: Global Law of Sport, Patejdlova Bouda, Giant Mountains, Czech Republic
• 12-13 September – Understand the Rules of the Game 2019: LawInSport Annual Conference, London, UK
• 13-16 October – Play the Game 2019: Athlete Power on the Rise, Colorado Springs, USA
• 24-25 October – Third Annual International Sports Law Conference of the International Sports Law Journal, T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague, Netherlands

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 Russian State Doping Scandal and the crisis of the World Anti-Doping System

Russian doping and the state of the Anti-Doping System has been the dominant international sports law story in November and December. This is mainly due to the release of the second report of the McLaren’s investigation on 9 December 2016. The outcome of McLaren’s work showed a “well-oiled systemic cheating scheme” that reached to the highest level of Russian sports and government, involving the striking figure of 30 sports and more than 1000 athletes in doping practices over four years and two Olympic Games. The report detailed tampering with samples to swap out athletes’ dirty urine with clean urine. Simultaneously, the IOC has over the last months announced 101 positive tests from retesting samples collected at Beijing 2008 and London 2012 and announced sanctions, 27 of which were for Russians athletes (for more information, see here, here and here).

A few weeks before the publication of the McLaren report, on 20 November the WADA Foundation Board met in Glasgow, in what, at least that we argued on this blog, should have been a turning point in the global fight against drugs in sport. In that occasion, the board endorsed a sanctioning framework for non-compliance that “will equip the anti-doping system with the ability to levy meaningful, predictable and proportionate sanctions in cases of non-compliance by anti-doping organizations (ADOs) with the World Anti-Doping Code (Code)”. The Board also agreed to continue evaluating the request made by the Olympic Summit to establish an Independent Testing Authority (ITA). In addition, the Board’s recommendation about the whistleblower program aims at appropriately supporting, protecting and rewarding whistleblowers in order to strengthen the Anti-Doping System. The hope is that those recommendations will help filling the massive gaps exposed in the World Anti-Doping System by the Russian scandal. 

The Football Leaks: Second edition

It is not the first time that the football leaks appear on this blog. Already in December 2015, we started analysing contracts released by an earlier (certainly more amateurish, but also more transparent) apparition of the football leaks. Back then we focused on Doyen’s TPO deals (you can dive back into the blogs here, here, here and here). Our conclusion was very much the same as the one advanced by the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC): there is something rotten in the globalized football economy and it is in dire need of proper regulation (and regulators).

Moving forward, on 9 December Der Spiegel published its first in-depth piece on the new football leaks. The data gathered by Der Spiegel (Germany) and the European Investigative Collaborations (EIC), includes 18.6 million documents comprising of original contracts. This data revealed a large and uncontrolled use of murky financial operations, complex contractual networks and tax schemes in the world of professional football. In particular linked to the operation of the transfer market. Evidence on player contracts revealed by football leaks showed, for example, that in what has been called ‘the Cypriot scheme’ football players were bought and loaned out by the Cypriot club Apollon Limassol without ever playing for the club, or – at least in one case - without even entering the country. In so doing, the Cypriot club had taken over the role of Third Party Owner usually held by investment funds, a practice that was banned by the FIFA’s regulation from May 2015, in order to avoid, among other things, loss of control over transfer operations.

NRC (The Netherlands) and EIC network have also discovered that agents of various South American football stars (such as Colombian James Rodríguez) used the Netherlands as a pivot country for tax reasons to carry out the transfer of their clients to top clubs in Europe (a story to which our Senior Researcher, Antoine Duval, contributed). There is also evidence of continuous alternation of companies involved in the transfers, with contracts passing from firms in The Netherlands to the tax heavens British Virgin Island, Panama and The Caribbean. The story of the transfer of the football player Kondogbia from the Spanish club Sevilla to the French club Monaco in 2013, emerged through football leaks as well, adds another layer to the evidence of dirty tricks linked to TPO (for more information on the Economic Rights of Players Agreement (ERPA) involving Kondogbia, see our ‘old’ blog from April 2016).

So, should one be fatalist about these wrongdoings and abuses on the transfer market and around it? No. We believe that the European Union and its Member States could and should act (see our proposition in French here, and comments to NRC in this piece) to regulate the worst economic practices of the football worlds. 

CAS award on Real Madrid’s transfers of minors

Finally, in the much-watched dispute between Real Madrid FC and FIFA over the Spanish club’s transfers of minors, the CAS partially sided with the football club. The CAS award modifies the decision rendered by the FIFA Appeal Committee in these terms: Real Madrid’s ban from registering any new national or international player is reduced from two transfer periods to one and the fine the club is imposed to pay to FIFA is reduced from 360,000 CHF to 240,000 CHF. The reasoned decision will be notified to the parties early 2017.  

Case Law

CAS awards

• CAS AD 16/11 International Olympic Committee v. Misha Aloian
• CAS AD 16/10 International Olympic Committee v. Gabriel Sincraian
• CAS 2016/A/4632 Alexei Lovchev v. International Weightlifting Federation
• CAS 2016/O/4464 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) v. All Russia Athletics Federation (ARAF) & Ekaterina Sharmina
• CAS 2016/O/4463 International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) v. All Russia Athletics Federation (ARAF) & Kristina Ugarova
• CAS 2016/A/4746 Sibel Özkan Konak v. International Olympic Committee
• CAS 2016/A/4643 Maria Sharapova v. International Tennis Federation

Decisions

IOC

• IOC sanctions 16 athletes for failing anti-doping tests at Beijing 2008
• IOC sanctions 12 athletes for failing anti-doping test at London 2012
• IOC sanctions 7 athletes for failing anti-doping tests at Beijing 2008 and London 2012

WADA

• WADA Suspends the Accreditation of the Doha Laboratory
• WADA Suspends the Accreditation of the Mexico City Laboratory

Official Documents and Press Releases

• CAS - Carole Malinvaud elected new head of the CAS Ordinary Division
• CAS - CAS list of hearings for December and January
• CAS - CAS reduces the sanctions imposed on Real Madrid CF for breaches of the FIFA Rules regarding the transfers of minors
• CAS rejects first appeal against IOC sanctions over re-testing of samples from Beijing 2008
• Council of Europe - 14th Council of Europe Conference - Final Resolutions
• Court of Justice of the European Union – Athletic de Bilbao’s pleas against European Commission's decision
• Court of Justice of the European Union - Valencia CF's pleas against European Commission's decision
• FIFA - FIFA sets strict compliance standards for development projects
• IAAF - IAAF launches online portal - report doping
• FIFA - FIFA Appeal Committee rejects appeal lodged by Wolfgang Niersbach
• FIFA - Worldwide extension of sanctions imposed in connection with anti-doping violations
• IOC - Statement of the IOC regarding the 'independent person' report
• UEFA - UEFA publishes CAS awards in which it was a party and a list of proposed arbitrators
• UK Government Department for Culture Media & Sport - A Code for Sports Governance
• WADA - McLaren independent investigation report - part II
• WADA - Foundation Board Press Release: Foundation Board Equips Agency to be Fit for the Future
• FIFPro - 2016 FIFPro global employment report working conditions in professional football
• FIFPro - Analysis: EU looks at French football contracts

In the news

Doping

• Rachel Axon, Sports federations face obstacles in sanctioning Russian athletes
• Nick Butler, IOC and WADA need to stop fighting if genuine improvement is ever going to be made in war on doping
• Nick Butler, Russian anti-doping chief denies admitting to "institutional conspiracy" at Sochi 2014
• Nick Butler, Russian denials, police dawn arrests and crisis beards - 2016 has been an unprecedented year in sports politics
• Nick Butler, Sochi stripped of International Bobsleigh and Skeleton Federation World Championships
• Graham Dumbar, IOC president Bach wants life bans for proven Russian cheats
• LawinSport interview, The future of anti-doping: Interview with CAS arbitrator & former General Counsel, USOC
• Paul Kelso - Sky Views: Olympics serious about doping? Don't hold your breath
• Charles Maynes, Denial and Outrage in Russia at Latest Anti-Doping Report
• David Owen, Exclusive: WADA to seek legal advice before acting on Osaka Rule reintroduction
• David Owen, I hope one day somebody will explain to me how Wednesday’s unedifying assault in Doha will further the cause of clean sport
• David Owen, Sorry seems to be the hardest word in this doping crisis - not least for the IOC President
• Michael Powell, After Russia’s Spree of Doping, a Time to Reform
• Carla Qualtrough, We Must Be United Against Doping In Sport
• Reuters, Ethiopia set to impose lifetime bans on athletes who fail doping tests
• Dan Roan - Sir Craig Reedie: World Anti-Doping Agency president fights on despite criticism
• Dan Roan - Thomas Bach: No regrets over Russia at Rio 2016 - IOC president
• Olympics chief says everyone involved in doping scandals in Russia dismissed – Russian news agency
• Rebecca R. Ruiz - How to Avoid Drug Testing in Russia: Radio Silence and Secure Perimeters
• Michele Verroken, The doping crisis and the sense of déjà vu

Football

• The Black Sea, Football Leaks: "The problem is there’s no full transparency" Interview with FIFA President Gianni Infantino
• Klaus Brinkbäumer, Money, Money, Money - Football Leaks Shows Us that Football Is Sick
• Pete Brush, Argentine Marketing Co. Pays DOJ $113M In FIFA Bribery Deal
• CBC Sports, FIFA prosecutors want Bin Hammam aide banned for bribery
• Hanneke Chin-A-Fo, Hugo Logtenberg and Merijn Rengers. Football Leaks: The Argentine Connection
• Remi Dupre, Sepp Blatter, former president of FIFA: “I have not cheated”
• The Guardian, FIFA president Gianni Infantino plans clean-up of transfer system
• MARCA, Real Madrid pay fine to city council
• Christian Okpara, Minister wants NFF to investigate FIFA’s query on $1.1m grant
• Reuters, Swiss authorities carry out fresh house searches in FIFA case
• Der Spiegel, Unchained - The Man Behind Football Leaks

Other

• Yann Bouchez - Revelations on suspicions of corruption at the International Athletics Federation
• Nick Butler - Exclusive: Kuwait body lodges $1 billion lawsuit against IOC
• Caley Fretz - Armstrong, Landis, and the U.S. government head to court
• The Indian Express, Rio de Janeiro mayor Eduardo Paes’ assets frozen over Olympic golf course

Publications

• Adam Lewis QC, Jonathan Taylor, Nick De Marco, James Segan: Challenging Sports Governing Bodies
• Football Legal, Release of Football Legal # 6

Blogs

Asser International Sports Law Blog

• N. Emre Bilginoglu, Resolution of Disputes Arising From Football Contracts in Turkey
• Antoine Duval, The World Anti-Doping System at a Crossroads
• Oskar van Maren, The EU State aid and sport saga: The Real Madrid Decision (part 1)
• Oskar van Maren, The EU State aid and sport saga: The Real Madrid Decision (part 2)
• Kester Mekenkamp, FIFA’s provision on the protection of minors - Part 1: The Early Years
• Kester Mekenkamp, FIFA’s provision on the protection of minors - Part 2: The 2009 reform and its aftermath
• Josep F. Vandellos Alamilla, The entitlement to Training Compensation of “previous” clubs under EU Competition Law

Others

• Peter Alexiadis and Pablo Figueroa, Skating on Thin Ice: The European Commission challenges the governance rules of an international sports association as being incompatible with European antitrust rules
• Despina Mavromati, How CAS deals with excessive contractual penalties in football
• Ravi Mehta, The future of sports governance: Will sport sustain its traditional model of autonomy?
• Raffaele Poli, Blog Symposium: Third-party entitlement to shares of transfer fees: problems and solutions
• Tom Rudkin,  A review of the CAS panel's decision to reduce Sharapova’s doping ban
• John Shea, Initial thoughts on Real Madrid's transfer ban being partially upheld by CAS
• CIES football observatory monthly report (December 2016), The international mobility of minors in football

Events

• 23 January - The US Collegiate Model of Intercollegiate Athletics: Questioning National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Hegemony, Seminar given by Dr. Richard Southall, London, UK
• 31 January – Sport Info Day on the Erasmus+ Programme, organized by the European Commission and the Education, Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency (EACEA), Brussels, Belgium
• 8 March - Discrimination Against Women in Sport Conference: How to continue narrowing the discrimination gap, Preston, UK
• 29-29 April - 2017 Macolin Anti-Doping Summit: A Fresh Look at the Science, Legal, and Policy Aspects of Anti-Doping, Swiss National Sports Centre, Macolin (Magglingen) Switzerland

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 

Caster Semenya learns that it is not always easy for victims of discrimination to prevail in court

The world of sport held its breath as the Secretary General of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) Matthieu Reeb stood before the microphones on 1 May 2019 to announce the verdict reached by three arbitrators (one of them dissenting) in the landmark case involving the South African Olympic and world champion Caster Semenya. Somewhat surprisingly, the panel of arbitrators came to the conclusion that the IAAF’s regulations requiring female athletes with differences of sexual development to reduce their natural testosterone level below the limit of 5 nmol/L and maintain that reduced level for a continuous period of at least six months in order to be eligible to compete internationally at events between 400 metres and a mile, were necessary, reasonable and proportionate to attain the legitimate aim of ensuring fair competition in female athletics, even though the panel recognised that the regulations were clearly discriminatory. Ms Semenya’s legal team decided to file an appeal against the ruling at the Swiss Federal Tribunal. For the time being, this appears to be a good move since the tribunal ordered the IAAF at the beginning of June to suspend the application of the challenged regulations to Ms Semenya with immediate effect, which means that Ms Semenya for now continues to run medication-free.

Champions League ban looms on Manchester City

On 18 May 2019, Manchester City completed a historic domestic treble after defeating Watford 6-0 in the FA Cup Final. And yet there is a good reason to believe that the club’s executives did not celebrate as much as they would under normal circumstances. This is because only two days before the FA Cup Final the news broke that the chief investigator of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) had decided to refer Manchester City’s case concerning allegations of financial fair play irregularities to the CFCB adjudicatory chamber for a final decision. Thus, the chief investigator most likely found that Manchester City had indeed misled UEFA over the real value of its sponsorship income from the state-owned airline Etihad and other companies based in Abu Dhabi, as the leaked internal emails and other documents published by the German magazine Der Spiegel suggested. The chief investigator is also thought to have recommended that a ban on participation in the Champions League for at least one season be imposed on the English club. The club’s representatives responded to the news with fury and disbelief, insisting that the CFCB investigatory chamber had failed to take into account a comprehensive body of irrefutable evidence it had been provided with. They eventually decided not to wait for the decision of the CFCB adjudicatory chamber, which is yet to be adopted, and meanwhile took the case to the CAS, filing an appeal against the chief investigator’s referral.

The Brussels Court of Appeal dismisses Striani’s appeal on jurisdictional grounds

The player agent Daniele Striani failed to convince the Brussels Court of Appeal that it had jurisdiction to entertain his case targeting UEFA’s financial fair play regulations. On 11 April 2019, the respective court dismissed his appeal against the judgment of the first-instance court without pronouncing itself on the question of compatibility of UEFA’s financial fair play regulations with EU law. The court held that it was not competent to hear the case because the link between the regulations and their effect on Mr Striani as a player agent, as well as the link between the regulations and the role of the Royal Belgian Football Association in their adoption and enforcement, was too remote (for a more detailed analysis of the decision, see Antoine’s blog here). The Brussels Court of Appeal thus joined the European Court of Justice and the European Commission as both these institutions had likewise rejected to assess the case on its merits in the past.

Sports Law Related Decisions

• Court of Justice of the European Union (General Court) – Judgment in the case Real Madrid Club de Futbol v European Commission

Official Documents and Press Releases

CAS

• CAS – Caster Semenya, Athletics South Africa (ASA) and International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF): Decision
• CAS – Caster Semenya, Athletics South Africa (ASA) and International Association of Athletics Federation (IAAF): Executive summary
• CAS – Decision in the arbitration procedure between Worawi Makudi and FIFA: Sanction reduced
• CAS – Elections of the Board Members of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS)
• CAS – Weighlifters Mikalai Novikau and Ruslan Nurudinov found to have committed anti-doping rule violations at the London 2012 Olympic Games

FIFA

• FIFA – Adjudicatory Chamber of the independent Ethics Committee sanctions Jose Maria Marin
• FIFA – FIFA Appeal Committee confirms ban imposed on Marco Polo Del Nero
• FIFA – FIFA Appeal Committee passes decision on appeal lodged by Chelsea FC
• FIFA – FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 to be played with 32 teams
• FIFA – Nine individuals sanctioned for match manipulation
• FIFA – RSC Anderlecht and Belgian Football Association sanctioned for international transfers of minors
• FIFA – Worldwide extension of suspension imposed on intermediaries Carmine and Vincenzo Raiola

IOC

• IOC – From food and uniforms to sponsorship deals: IOC guides to help the Olympic Games and the sports sector adopt sustainable sourcing practices
• IOC – Future Olympic Games elections to be more flexible
• IOC – Independent research conducted on behalf of the IOC demonstrates global strength of the Olympic values
• IOC – IOC Evaluation Commission 2026 begins working visit to Milan-Cortina
• IOC – IOC Evaluation Commission confirms passion and expertise of Milan-Cortina project shaped by Olympic Agenda 2020
• IOC – IOC Executive Board proposes 10 new members for election to the IOC Session
• IOC – IOC releases Evaluation Commission 2026 report
• IOC – IOC sanctions one athlete for failing anti-doping tests at London 2012
• IOC – IOC sanctions two athletes for failing anti-doping tests at London 2012
• IOC – Uncovered: The work and value of the IOC Athletes’ Commission

UEFA

• UEFA – AC Milan referred to CFCB Adjudicatory Chamber
• UEFA – CFCB update on 2018/19 monitoring of clubs under FFP settlements
• UEFA – FK Vardar and PFC Levski Sofia avoid potential exclusion from UEFA club competitions
• UEFA – Law changes to apply from 25 June in UEFA competitions
• UEFA – Manchester City referred to CFCB Adjudicatory Chamber
• UEFA – Three clubs exit FFP settlement agreement
• UEFA – Time for Action: First ever UEFA women’s football strategy launched

WADA

• WADA – Timor-Leste becomes 188^th country to ratify UNESCO Anti-Doping Convention
• WADA – WADA announces self-suspension of the Helsinki laboratory
• WADA – WADA congratulates Presidential nominee Witold Banka
• WADA – WADA Foundation Board moves forward with implementation of governance reforms
• WADA – WADA hails 30^th Anniversary of Council of Europe Anti-Doping Convention
• WADA – WADA publishes four new Technical Documents
• WADA – WADA publishes independent report into allegations of improper conduct
• WADA – WADA publishes revised International Standard for Laboratories
• WADA – WADA publishes Stakeholder Notice regarding meat contamination
• WADA – WADA reinstates Bucharest Laboratory
• WADA – WADA statement on refusal of Beckie Scott and Edwin Moses to cooperate with independent investigation
• WADA – WADA successfully retrieves samples from Moscow Laboratory
• WADA – WADA welcomes significant decision by Court of Arbitration for Sport

Other

• AIU (Athletics Integrity Unit) – After Ukraine sprinters’ ban, AIU to extend its blood profiling strategy ahead of the IAAF World Championships Doha 2019
• AIU (Athletics Integrity Unit) – Athletics Integrity Unit and Abbott World Marathon Majors announce new intelligence and testing programme in groundbreaking anti-doping initiative
• Centre for Sport and Human Rights – Mapping accountability and remedy mechanisms for sport
• CIES Football Observatory World football expatriates: Global study 2019
• CIES Sports Intelligence – Governance and financial landscape of top European football clubs
• Council of Europe Ground-breaking international treaty on match-fixing to enter into force in September
• Human Rights Watch – Belarus: Use European games to spur media freedom
• IAAF – IAAF letter to the World Medical Association
• IAAF – IAAF publishes briefing notes and Q&A on female eligibility regulations
• TIU (Tennis Integrity Unit) – Benjamin D’Hoe suspended and fined for betting on tennis
• TIU (Tennis Integrity Unit) – Brazilian tennis player Joao Souza provisionally suspended by independent Anti-corruption Hearing Officer
• TIU (Tennis Integirty Unit) – Independent Anti-corruption Hearing Officer suspends Osman Torski for breach of the Tennis Anti-corruption programme
• TIU (Tennis Integrity Unit) – Independent members appointed to the Supervisory Board for Tennis Integrity
• TIU (Tennis Integrity Unit) – Issam Taweel found guilty of match-fixing offences by independent Anti-corruption Hearing Officer
• TIU (Tennis Integrity Unit) – Lifetime ban and $20,000 fine for Helen Ploskina after being found guilty of match-fixing offences
• TIU (Tennis Integrity Unit) – Nigerian tennis player Henry Atseye provisionally suspended by independent Anti-corruption Hearing Officer
• TIU (Tennis Integrity Unit) – Suspended sentence and fine for Mohamed Safwat after failing to report corrupt approaches to the Tennis Integrity Unit
• TIU (Tennis Integrity Unit) – Tennis coach Miguel Tobon suspended and fined for selling wild cards
• TIU (Tennis Integrity Unit) – Tennis umpire Svetlana Teryaeva facing sanction after failing to report a corrupt approach to the Tennis Integrity Unit
• TIU (Tennis Integrity Unit) – The Tennis Integrity Unit and Marco Trungelliti
• UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) – UCI declaration concerning E-mountain bike
• UCI (Union Cycliste Internationale) – UCI statement on Operation Aderlass
• UOKiK (Office of Competition and Consumer Protection in Poland) – UOKiK will inspect sports associations
• World Medical Association Physician leaders reaffirm opposition to IAAF rules

In the news

Doping

• ESPN Kenya’s Olympic track coach banned 10 years
• Sean Ingle World’s top marathon runners to face innovative anti-doping programme
• Duncan Mackay Critics of WADA decision to reinstate Russia care more about politics than clean sport, claims President Sir Craig Reedie
• Michael Pavitt Arrests made in France over alleged drug trafficking operation
• Michael Pavitt Biathlon Integrity Unit to be set up by IBU in response to doping, fraud and corruption allegations
• Eddie Pells Polish minister to lead WADA; outspoken candidate sidelined
• Dan Roan US proposes making WADA funding conditional on governance reforms and greater transparency
• Gabrielle Tetrault-Farber Russian anti-doping chief calls for dismissal of athletics federation head

Football

• Associated Press FIFA bans South Sudanese official for taking soccer money
• BBC Sport Mino Raiola: Paul Pogba’s agent banned for three months by FIFA
• Andy Brown Bulgaria relegates FC Vereya on receipt of UEFA match-fixing information
• David Conn 2022 World Cup in Qatar to remain as a 32-team tournament, FIFA announces
• David Conn Manchester City accuse UEFA of leaks amid Champions League ban threat
• David Conn Manchester City furious after UEFA investigation is sent for final judgment
• David Conn Premier League clubs’ record £4.8 billion revenues widens gap to rest of Europe
• David Conn Premier League finances: The full club-by-club breakdown and verdict
• David Conn Promotion and relegation part of explosive Champions League plans
• Marina Hyde UEFA’s ‘parking ticket’ fines will not rein in football’s maverick clubs
• Sean Ingle Manchester City and PSG should be thrown out of Europe, says La Liga president
• Amy Lawrence and Sean Ingle Arsenal’s Henrikh Mkhitaryan to miss Europa League final over safety fears
• Liam Morgan Sierra Leone could be welcomed back by FIFA after president and secretary general cleared of corruption
• Tariq Panja A trove of FIFA secrets, locked inside a New Jersey storage locker
• Tariq Panja Bundesliga’s chief executive isn’t keen to join Premier League
• Tariq Panja China’s soccer push takes a new tack: Naturalizing foreign players
• Tariq Panja FIFA drops plan for 48-team World Cup in 2022
• Tariq Panja For Europe’s soccer chief, the outrage arrives in waves
• Tariq Panja In Europe, a bitter battle between clubs and leagues is taking shape
• Tariq Panja In soccer’s biggest elections, accusations are common but challengers are not
• Tariq Panja Powerful Sheikh linked to bribe scheme is still a soccer power
• Tariq Panja Proposal to restructure Champions League leaves out most of Europe
• Tariq Panja Sepp Blatter, who departed FIFA in scandal, wants the watches he left at the office
• Tariq Panja She has friends at FIFA. At home, it’s mostly critics.
• Tariq Panja UEFA investigators set to seek Manchester City’s ban from Champions League
• Martyn Ziegler Europa League final: Azerbaijan, the host country where journalist Rasim Aliyev was killed for criticising Azerbaijan midfielder Javid Huseynov 

Other

• Eyewitness News Kenya drops two female sprinters over testosterone levels
• Nancy Gillen FIVB to refer human rights abuse allegations surrounding Cambodian Volleyball Federation President to ethics panel
• Mark Gleeson South African government instructs athletics body to appeal Semenya decision
• Gerald Imray Defiant Caster Semenya appeals testosterone ruling
• Sean Ingle AIBA threatens to sue IOC if stripped of right to run amateur boxing
• Sean Ingle AIBA stripped of right to run boxing tournament at Tokyo Olympics
• Sean Ingle BeIN Sports chief in World Athletics Championships corruption inquiry
• Sean Ingle Caster Semenya Q&A: The runner’s discrimination case explained
• Sean Ingle Semenya loses landmark legal case against IAAF over testosterone levels
• Sean Ingle Caster Semenya vs. IAAF: The inside story of sporting trial of the century
• Sean Ingle Caster Semenya to run in Doha as Sebastian Coe welcomes CAS ruling
• Duncan Mackay Italian government to sign IOC guarantees for Milan Cortina 2026, including EUR 415 million security budget
• Liam Morgan German athletes group steps up call for increased representation and bigger share of Olympic revenue
• Tariq Panja After Semenya ruling, sports federations ponder what’s next
• Tariq Panja Qatari executive is charged with corruption in IAAF scandal
• Michael Pavitt Bach tells athletes to begin negotiations with NOCs over Rule 40 restrictions
• Michael Pavitt GAISF considers establishing office to lobby European Union and create framework over third-party organisers
• Michael Pavitt UCI President fears ‘serious issue’ after arbitrators asked to choose between working exclusively for CAS or international federations
• Mike Rowbottom Message to the Olympic Movement in the face of new commercial threats – keep the athletes’ eyes on the golden prize
• Mike Rowbottom IOC maintains German athletes’ court decision over Rule 40 is ‘not generally applicable’
• Stephen Wade and Mari Yamaguchi IOC inspectors face report on tough Olympic work conditions
• Martyn Ziegler Sport won’t be overrun by intersex athletes, says Caster Semenya’s expert witness

Academic Materials

Books

•  Johan Lindholm The Court of Arbitration for Sport and its Jurisprudence: An Empirical Inquiry into Lex Sportiva

International Sports Law Journal

• H. Burak Gemalmaz Applicability of Human Rights Standards in Turkish Football Arbitration: The Contribution of the European Court of Human Rights
• Lloyd Freeburn The Fiction of Democracy in FIFA’s Governance of Football and the Case of Football Federation Australia
• Marlaina Lemmon Evening the Playing Field: Women’s Sport as a Vehicle for Human Rights
• Kendra Magraw Separation of Sport and State: Military Salutations at US Major League Soccer Events
• Daniel West Revitalising a Phantom Regime: The Adjudication of Human Rights Complaints in Sport

Other

• April Henning and Paul Dimeo Perceptions of Legitimacy, Attitudes and Buy-in Among Athlete Groups: A Cross-national Qualitative Investigation Providing Practical Solutions
• Seema Patel and Ian Varley Exploring the Regulation of Genetic Testing in Sport

Blog

Asser International Sports Law Blog

• Antoine Duval What Happens in Switzerland Stays in Switzerland: The Striani Judgment of the Brussels Court of Appeals
• Daniela Heerdt Will the World Cup 2022 Expansion Mark the Beginning of the End of FIFA’s Human Rights Journey?
• Thomas Terraz Can European Citizens Participate in National Championships? An Analysis of AG Tanchev’s Opinion in TopFit e.V. Daniele Biffi v Deutscher Leichtathletikverband e.V.
• Thomas Terraz League of Legends European Championships: Challenging the Boundaries of Sport in EU Law
• Marjolaine Viret How Data Protection Crystallises Key Legal Challenges in Anti-Doping

Law in Sport

• Jiri Janak Judicial oversight of sports associations in the Czech Republic – does the new Civil Code strike the right balance between autonomy and intervention?
• Lucio Mazzei The global development of women’s football – a review of the strategies being implemented by FIFA, UEFA and in Italy
• Adam Powell Stadium naming deals: Why clubs and sponsors should always consider their termination rights
• Andrew Reid Football kit supplier deals – lessons for clubs on ‘matching rights’ from the Sports Direct v Rangers FC case
• Celia Rooney Sex on a spectrum in the binary world of sport: The CAS’s decision in the case of Caster Semenya & Ors v the IAAF

Other

• Andy Brown Red herrings, dead cats, apples and oranges: The gender debate
• Steve Cornelius Caster Semenya: The legal and ethical issues that should concern us all
• Sam Knight How Football Leaks is exposing corruption in European soccer
• Steve Magness All of your questions answered on the Caster Semenya controversy
• Despina Mavromati FIM v. KMSC – Arbitration clause in the statutes of a sports federation and Article 75 Swiss Civil Code
• Michael McCann U.S. soccer, Relevent Sports and the legal battle over staging matches on USA soil
• Roger Pielke Jr Caster Semenya ruling: Sports federation is flouting ethics rules
• Roger Pielke Jr. Pielke comments on Semenya/ASA vs. IAAF

Upcoming Events

• 30 June -14 July – CLS Summer School 2019: Global Law of Sport, Patejdlova Bouda, Giant Mountains, Czech Republic
• 30-31 August – Third EU Sports Law and Policy Summer School, Edge Hill University, UK
• 12-13 September – Understand the Rules of the Game 2019: LawInSport Annual Conference, London, UK
• 27-28 September – 8^th International Congress on Football Law, Madrid, Spain
• 13-16 October – Play the Game 2019: Athlete Power on the Rise, Colorado Springs, USA
• 24-25 October – Third Annual International Sports Law Conference of the International Sports Law Journal, T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague, Netherlands

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 International Skating Union's eligibility rules declared incompatible with EU competition law

On 8 December 2017, the European Commission announced that it had rendered a decision in the case against the International Skating Union (ISU). The Commission upheld the complaint lodged in October 2015 by two Dutch professional speed skaters Mark Tuitert and Niels Kerstholt, represented in this case by Ben Van Rompuy and Antoine Duval (you can read their joint statement here), and ruled that the ISU's eligibility rules preventing athletes from participating in speed skating competitions not approved by the ISU under the threat of severe penalties are in violation of EU competition law. In particular, the Commission held that these rules restrict the commercial freedom of (i) athletes who may be deprived of additional source of income as they are not allowed to participate in speed skating competitions other than those authorised by the ISU; and (ii) independent organisers who are unable to attract top athletes. And while the Commission recognised that sporting rules with restrictive effects might be compatible with EU law if they pursue a legitimate objective such as the protection of athletes' health and safety or the protection of the integrity and proper conduct of sport, it found that the ISU's eligibility rules pursue only its own commercial interests to the detriment of athletes and independent organisers of speed skating competitions. The ISU eventually escaped financial sanctions, but it must modify or abolish its eligibility rules within 90 days; otherwise it would be liable for non-compliance payments of up to 5% of its average daily turnover. For more information on this topic, we invite you to read our recent blog written by Professor Stefano Bastianon.

The International Olympic Committee bans Russia from the upcoming Winter Olympic Games

The world has been waiting impatiently for the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) decision on the participation of Russian athletes in the upcoming 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang. This was finally communicated on 5 December 2017. Having deliberated on the findings of the Schmid Commission, the IOC Executive Board decided to suspend the Russian Olympic Committee with immediate effect, meaning that only those Russian athletes who demonstrate that they had not benefited from the state-sponsored doping programme will be able to participate in the Games. Such clean athletes will be allowed to compete under the Olympic Flag, bearing the name 'Olympic Athlete from Russia (OAR)' on their uniforms. Further to this, the IOC Executive Board sanctioned several officials implicated in the manipulation of the anti-doping system in Russia, including Mr Vitaly Mutko, currently the Deputy Prime Minister of Russia and formerly the Minister of Sport. Mounting public pressure subsequently forced Mr Mutko to step down as head of the Local Organising Committee for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.

Meanwhile, 21 individual Russian athletes were sanctioned (see here, here, here, and here) in December (in addition to 22 athletes in November) by the IOC Oswald Commission that is tasked with investigating the alleged doping violations by Russian athletes at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. The Oswald Commission also published two full decisions in the cases against Evgeny Belov and Aleksandr Tretiakov who were both banned from all future editions of the Games. It is now clear that the Court of Arbitration for Sport will have quite some work in the coming weeks as the banned athletes are turning to this Swiss-based arbitral tribunal to have their sanctions reviewed (see here and here).

Universal Declaration of Player Rights

14 December 2017 was a great day for athletes all over the globe. On this day, representatives of the world's leading player associations met in Washington D.C. to unveil the Universal Declaration of Player Rights, a landmark document developed under the aegis of the World Players Association that strives to protect athletes from ongoing and systemic human rights violations in global sport. The World Players Association's Executive Director Brendan Schwab emphasised that the current system of sports governance ''lacks legitimacy and fails to protect the very people who sit at the heart of sport'' and stated that ''athlete rights can no longer be ignored''. Among other rights, the Declaration recognises the right of athletes to equality of opportunity, fair and just working conditions, privacy and the protection of personal data, due process, or effective remedy.

Chris Froome failed a doping test during the last year's Vuelta a España

The world of cycling suffered yet another blow when it transpired that one of its superstars Chris Froome had failed a doping test during the last year's Vuelta a España, a race he had eventually emerged victorious from for the first time in his career. His urine sample collected on 7 September 2017 contained twice the amount of salbutamol, a medication used to treat asthma, than permissible under the World Anti-Doping Agency's 2017 Prohibited List. Kenyan-born Froome has now hired a team of medical and legal experts to put forward a convincing explanation for the abnormal levels of salbutamol in his urine and thus to avoid sanctions being imposed on him.

Sports Law Related Decisions

• CAS – Award delivered in the arbitration between Drug Free Sport New Zealand and Karl Murray
• European Commission – State Aid decision on the construction of a multi-purpose arena in Tampere, Finland
• IOC – Decision of the Disciplinary Commission in the proceedings against Aleksandr Tretiakov
• IOC – Decision of the Disciplinary Commission in the proceedings against Evgeniy Belov
• IOC – Decision to ban Russian athletes from the 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang

Official Documents and Press Releases

• CAS – 22 Russian athletes file appeals
• CAS – 3 additional Russian athletes file appeals
• CAS – American bobsledder Ryan Bailey sanctioned with a two-year period of ineligibility
• CAS – José Enrique Angulo Caicedo sanctioned with four-year period of ineligibility
• CAS – The appeals filed by Artur Taimazov and Tatyana Chernova are dismissed
• Council of Europe – Good football governance
• Council of Europe – Working towards a framework for modern sports governance
• European Commission – An evaluation of the anti-doping laws and practices in the EU Member States in light of the General Data Protection Regulation
• European Commission – International Skating Union's restrictive penalties on athletes breach EU competition rules
• FIFA – Appeal Committee reduces the sanction imposed on Paolo Guerrero to a six-month suspension
• FIFA – Circular no. 1603 re amendments to the Rules Governing the Procedures of the Players' Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber and to the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players
• FIFA – Circular no. 1605 re 2018 World Cup Russia Media and Marketing Regulations
• FIFA – Normalisation committee appointed for the Malian FA
• FIFA – Suspension of the Kuwait Football Association lifted
•  IOC – IOC and international partners establish taskforces to tackle corruption in sport
• IOC – IOC sanctions one athlete for failing anti-doping tests at Vancouver 2010
• IOC – IOC suspends Russian NOC and creates a path for clean individual athletes to compete in Pyeongchang 2018 under the Olympic flag
• IOC – Olympic Athlete from Russia (OAR) Invitation Review Panel discusses objectives and methodology
• IOC – Oswald Commission's findings with regard to Russian athletes:
•  Yulia Chekaleva, Anastasia Dotsenko, and Olga Zaytseva
• Inna Dyubanok, Ekaterina Lebedeva, Ekaterina Pashkevich, Anna Shibanova, Ekaterina Smolentseva, and Galina Skiba
• Ivan Skobrev, Artem Kuznetcov, Tatyana Ivanova, Albert Demchenko, Nikita Kryukov, Alexander Bessmertnykh, Natalia Matveeva, Liudmila Udobkina, Maxim Belugin, Tatiana Burina, and Anna Shchukina
• Alexey Voevoda
•  IOC – Schmid Commission's report to the IOC Executive Board
• Tennis Integrity Unit – CAS rejects appeal for lifetime ban on Nick Lindahl but upholds existing seven-year sanction
• Tennis Integrity Unit – Piotr Gadomski disciplined for breach of seven-year corruption ban
• WADA – Statement from WADA Athlete Committee regarding the IOC's decision on Russia
• WADA – Statement regarding the IOC's decision concerning Russia
•  WADA – WADA launches first phase of 2021 World Anti-Doping Code review process
•  WADA – WADA meets with International Federations and provides intelligence from Moscow's Laboratory Information Management System Database
• World Players Association – Universal Declaration of Player Rights

In the news

Doping

• Associated Press Suspension lifted on French anti-doping lab

• Associated Press UCI bans Italian cyclist Nicola Ruffoni for doping
•  Rachel Axon Lifetime bans for Russian athletes are unlikely to stands, experts say
• Cycling News Chris Froome hires former Bruyneel and Contador lawyer for salbutamol case
• Sean Ingle British Olympians back IOC's decision to ban Russia from Pyeongchang 2018
• Sean Ingle and Martha Kelner Chris Froome fights to save career after failed drugs test result
• Chijioke Jannah Over 100 Nigerian athletes tested positive for doping since 2002
•  Meduza Russia indicts doping whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov on trafficking charges
• Sky Sports Russia claim whistleblower Grigory Rodchenkov's doping diaries are fake

Football

• AS FIFA threaten Spain's place in World Cup 2018 over 'Villar Case'

• Associated Press FIFA bribery trial jury set to begin deliberations in New York
• David Conn FIFA trial leaves questions over 2022 Qatar World Cup
• David Conn FIFA's desperate dependence on Russia exposed in flimsy response to IOC ban
• David Conn Trabzonspor challenge puts Gianni Infantino's stint at UEFA under scrutiny
• Sean Ingle Vitaly Mutko in spotlight but IOC and FIFA want to escape to shadows
• Martha Kelner 2022 World Cup migrant workers 'systematically' exploited, Amnesty says
• Martha Kelner Vitaly Mutko steps down as head of Russia World Cup organising committee
• Reuters Brazilian football boss Del Nero banned for 90 days
• Rebecca R. Ruiz FIFA trial ends: ''They have a theory that everyone in soccer is dirty''

Other

•  Associated Press Kuwait parliament passes law addressing IOC, FIFA bans

• Nick Butler European Commission order International Skating Union to change competition rules in landmark legal ruling
• Graham Dunbar European lawmakers slam FIFA, IOC for leadership issues

Academic Materials

• Antonio Rigozzi, Emily Wisnosky and Brianna Quinn The Proceedings of the 2017 Macolin Anti-Doping Summit: A Fresh Look at the Science, Legal and Policy Aspects of Anti-Doping
• Brendan Schwab ''When We Know Better, We Do Better.'' Embedding the Human Rights of Players as a Prerequisite to the Legitimacy of Lex Sportiva and Sport's Justice System

Blog

Asser International Sports Law Blog

•  Ryan Gauthier A Good Governance Approach to Stadium Subsidies in North America

•  Tomáš Grell Human Rights as Selection Criteria in Bidding Regulations for Mega-Sporting Events – Part I: IOC and UEFA
• Ben Van Rompuy and Antoine Duval Statement on the European Commission's ISU Decision

Law in Sport

•  Sean Cottrell The evolution of athlete rights with Brendan Schwab of the World Players Association

• Henry Goldschmidt Football's greatest threat: Why technology and stakeholder collaboration are key to combating global match-fixing
• Chris Hurlston and Neerali Madhvani A review of the current inquiries and investigations into abuse in UK football
• Viktoria Tsvetanova Why sports federations are under increasing scrutiny from competition authorities
• John Wolohan Sports betting in the United States: Supreme Court begins hearing Christie v. NCAA

Others

• Jack Anderson Russia's humiliating ban from the Winter Olympics is the right move to protect integrity in sport
• Nick Butler Russian compromises and European Commission precedents in another nice easy week for the IOC
• Borja García A historic decision: The European Union curtails the power of international federations
•  Nicholas McGeehan The men behind Man City: A documentary not coming soon to a cinema near to you
• David Owen A trawl through the latest ISU financial report reveals a rich store of assets, while pointing to an uncertain future
• Navi Pillay Miguel Maduro and Joseph Weiler Our sin? We appeared to take our task at FIFA too seriously
• Rebecca R. Ruiz Why Russia tried to cheat its way to glory
• Giles Tremlett Manchester City's plan for global domination

Upcoming Events

• 16 March – Sports Law & Business Conference, Etihad Stadium, Manchester, England
• 3-4 July – 13^th Sport & EU Annual Conference, Edge Hill University, England

Editor’s note: Daniela Heerdt is a PhD candidate at Tilburg Law School in the Netherlands. Her PhD research deals with the establishment of responsibility and accountability for adverse human rights impacts of mega-sporting events, with a focus on FIFA World Cups and Olympic Games. She recently published an article in the International Sports Law Journal that discusses to what extent the revised bidding and hosting regulations by FIFA, the IOC and UEFA strengthen access to remedy for mega-sporting events-related human rights violations.

The 21^st FIFA World Cup is currently underway. Billions of people around the world follow the matches with much enthusiasm and support. For the time being, it almost seems forgotten that in the final weeks leading up to the events, critical reports on human rights issues related to the event piled up. This blog explains why addressing these issues has to start well in advance of the first ball being kicked and cannot end when the final match has been played.

The Warm-up: Preparing for the Game

Even though the recently published update by FIFA’s Human Rights Advisory Board compliments FIFA on its increased efforts for tackling human rights issues related to this year’s World Cup, it is no secret that thousands of workers were exposed to severe human rights violations while working on World Cup construction sites in Russia.[1] Human rights groups such as Human Rights Watch (HRW) extensively reported on the structural exploitation that workers were facing, including unsafe working conditions leading to numerous injuries and the death of 17 workers, forced illegal work due to lack of employment contracts, and cases of non-payment or serious delays in payment of wages.  Those workers that dared to file a complaint were threatened with retaliation and non-payment of wages.[2] Furthermore, journalists and human rights advocates that tried to report on these cases have been intimidated, denied entry into the country, or even arrested while carrying out their investigations.

Blaming the occurrence of these human rights violations on Russia being this year’s World Cup’s host would ignore the fact that these violations are recurring in the context of mega-sporting events (MSEs) like the Summer or Winter Olympic Games or the World Cup. To a certain extent, these events heighten pre-existing human rights risk in the host country and thereby increase the likelihood for violations to occur. Thus, numerous stories of exploitation of migrant workers have been documented in relation to the construction works for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. Furthermore, worker’s rights are not the only rights that are at risk during the delivery of MSEs. Other common types of human rights abuses associated with hosting MSEs are cases of forced displacement, infringements of participatory rights, and infringements of freedom of expression and the right to protest.[3] Shortly before and during these events, reports on incidents of excessive use of force by local police and private security forces, as well as arbitrary arrest and criminalization of homeless people and street children are also commonplace.[4]

The First Half: Establishing Responsibility

The key challenge in addressing these cases is to identify the actor and actions responsible for these harmful outcomes. However, MSEs like the FIFA World Cup are jointly organized and staged by a mix of public, private, national, and international actors. International sports bodies, like FIFA or the International Olympic Committee (IOC), set the terms and conditions under which these events can be hosted. Host countries agree to these conditions by submitting government guarantees and declarations and by adopting special event-related legislation. Furthermore, local and regional authorities issue permits and give orders to enable and facilitate event-related operations. The local organizing committees are responsible for living up to the conditions set by the sports bodies and for hiring the necessary contractors. These range from local to international firms, from city planners and logistic experts, to food suppliers and construction firms.[5] Further companies that profit from the MSE-business are international broadcasting firms and recruitment agencies. The financing of these events is secured through national and international corporate sponsors, such as McDonald’s and Budweiser for this year’s FIFA World Cup.[6]

The intuitive thing to do from a human rights perspective would be to call upon the responsibility of Russia as the host country to address these abuses, since states are not only responsible for respecting, protecting and fulfilling human rights but also for preventing third parties from abusing human rights on their territory. However, this would ignore the real issue at stake: the fact that MSE-related human rights abuses are the result of complex collaboration between multiple actors involved in delivering these events. In the case of exploitation of workers on World Cup construction sites in Russia, construction companies contribute by imposing abusive employment conditions; recruitment agencies by recruiting the workers under false promises; the state by failing to protect the workers and potentially even facilitating certain practices through its event-related policies; FIFA by requiring a certain number and standard of stadiums for the event; and finally also the sponsors by providing the necessary finances.

This rather simplified identification of the various contributing actors only presents a broad indication of how they contribute to these violations and share responsibility. The problem is that the entanglement of actors and their operations creates highly complex governance structures. In order to identify those actors responsible for the violations, victims first have to untangle these structures and retrace the chain of decisions taken, permits issued, orders given, and actions taken. Even if that succeeds, the key challenges are to identify which of the contributing acts would give rise to legal responsibility and to establish responsibility for those actors that have no direct obligations under international human rights law.

The Second Half:  Establishing Accountability

The entanglement of actors and their contributions does not only impede the identification of the responsible actors but also the identification of adequate accountability mechanisms. The business and human rights field knows a broad spectrum of mechanisms ranging from judicial to non-judicial, and from state-based to operational level mechanisms. Up to this point, the few attempts to hold certain actors accountable for MSE-related human rights violations either have been unsuccessful or only addressed a fraction of the actors or types of violations involved. For example, FIFA’s responsibility for World Cup-related human rights abuses has been the subject of a court case in Switzerland and two specific instances dealt with by the Swiss National Contact Point (NCP). The court in Zürich dismissed the case with unusual speed on mainly practical grounds (a more detailed discussion of the judgement can be found here).[7] The mediation procedure at the Swiss NCP led to the creation of a monitoring system for decent work and safety in the workplace for migrant construction workers in Qatar[8], but their living standards and the abuses of recruitment agencies were not addressed.

What these attempts highlight is that the main shortcomings of available mechanisms amount to a lack of access to these mechanisms for affected groups and individuals and a lack of human rights receptivity of existing mechanisms. In light of these shortcomings, new mechanisms are currently being developed and existing mechanisms are being tested in the MSE and human rights context. Just in time for the start of the World Cup, FIFA launched its new complaint mechanism for human rights defenders, which provides human rights defenders and media representatives with an avenue for complaints for situations “in which they consider that their rights have been unduly restricted when conducting work in relation to FIFA’s activities”.[9] Via an online platform, human rights defenders, journalists and other media representatives can submit a complaint and FIFA commits to ensure that it will apply an “appropriate follow-up processes” to it.[10] FIFA itself is supposed to assess these complaints and seek cooperation with third parties that are involved in the matter and relevant institutions that can support the complainant.[11] With regard to testing existing mechanisms, the possibilities for using arbitration as means to address MSE-related human rights issues opened up with the revised bidding and hosting regulations of FIFA and the IOC. Both entail provisions for human rights protection and arbitration clauses, referring to the Court of Arbitration for Sports, for challenging the performance of the host-city or -country under any of the provisions.

The Overtime: The Winner Takes its Share

One way of interpreting these recent efforts of international sports bodies to increase awareness and respect for human rights protection in connection with their events is to argue that they are increasingly becoming aware of their share of responsibility and accountability. Indeed, the increased awareness of adverse human rights impacts of MSEs triggered a number of initiatives that aim at raising human rights standards in the MSE business. In 2016, the MSE platform for human rights has been created, which is a multi-stakeholder coalition consisting of international and intergovernmental organisations, governments, sports governing bodies, athletes, unions, sponsors, broadcasters, and civil society groups, who are committed to take joint action to protect human rights throughout the MSE lifecycle. Recently, this multi-stakeholder initiative created the Centre for Sport and Human Rights, which is an independent center that connects stakeholders and affected groups to share knowledge, build capacity, and strengthen accountability for adverse human rights impacts of sports more generally. Concrete event-related examples of initiatives exist as well. In the run-up to this year’s World Cup, FIFA, Russian authorities and representatives of trade unions took a joint effort to set up a monitoring program for labour conditions on World Cup construction sites. Similar processes led to the establishment of a worker welfare monitoring system for workers on World Cup construction sites in Qatar.

Nevertheless, significant challenges remain in relation to concrete cases of MSE-related human rights abuses and it is important that these efforts do not fade after the final match has been played. MSE-related human rights violations do not automatically stop when the event is over. In some cases, for instance cases of forced evictions, violations continue as long as victims have not been compensated adequately. These challenges do not make it a hopeless endeavour, but they highlight that more work and change is needed before responsibility for MSE-related human rights violations can be established. Especially, most of the developments and efforts of sports governing bodies are rather recent and only apply to events that will take place in the future. Hence, it remains to be seen whether the revised bidding regulations can ensure that future World Cups will have a more positive human rights legacy and eventually avoid adverse human rights impacts altogether.

[1] Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, ‘Russia 2018 FIFA World Cup’ <https://business-humanrights.org/en/russia-2018-fifa-world-cup> accessed 14 February 2018.

[2] ibid 27.

[3] Megan Corrarino, ‘“Law Exclusion Zones”: Mega-Events as Sites of Procedural and Substantive Human Rights Violations’ (2014) 17 Yale Human Rights and Development Law Journal 180.

[4] Lucy Amis and John Morrison, ‘Mega-Sporting Events and Human Rights—A Time for More Teamwork?’ (2017) 2 Business and Human Rights Journal 135, 137.

[5] For a more elaborate overview of actors, see Amis and Morrison (n 5) at 136.

[6] Fédération Internationale de Football Association, ‘2018 FIFA World Cup Russia^TM - FIFA Partners’ (FIFA.com, 2017) <http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/organisation/partners/index.html> accessed 15 February 2018.

[7] FNV, Bangladeshi Free Trade Union Congress, BWI & Nadim Shariful Alam v FIFA Handelsgericht Kanton Zürich (3 January 2017).

[8] Specific Instance regarding the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) submitted by the Building and Wood Workers’ International (BWI) - Final Statement Swiss National Contact Point (2 May 2017).

[9] FIFA, ‘FIFA Statement on Human Rights Defenders and Media Representatives’ (2018) 4, para 14 <https://resources.fifa.com/image/upload/ejf1ecdku14lm2v9zc03.pdf> accessed 12 June 2018.

[10] ibid.

[11] ibid 5, para 15.