Editor's note: This report compiles the most relevant legal news, events and materials on International and European Sports Law based on the daily coverage provided on our twitter feed @Sportslaw_asser. 

The Headlines

Manchester City sanctioned by UEFA’s Financial Fair Play

Manchester City has been sanctioned under UEFA’s Financial Fair Play (FFP) regulations for two seasons for ‘overstating its sponsorship revenue in its accounts and in the break-even information’ it had provided UEFA. The February 14 decision of the Adjudicatory Chamber of the Club Financial Control Body (CFCB) likely heralds the start of a long and bitter legal war between Manchester City and UEFA, which may end up settling many of the questions surrounding the legality of FFP rules. Since its introduction in 2010, the compatibility of FFP with EU law, especially in terms of free movement and competition law, has been a continued point of contention amongst the parties concerned and commentators (see discussion here, here and here). It was only a matter of time that a case would arise to test this issue and the present circumstances seem to indicate that this may go all the way.                                 

Regardless, the ban will not be enforced this season and in light of the appeal process, it is hard to predict when the CFCB’s decision will have any effect. Indeed, Manchester City has shown an incredible willingness to fighting this out in the courts and shows no signs of backing down. The next stop will be the CAS and perhaps followed by the Swiss Federal Tribunal. It should also be recalled that the CAS has already examined FFP in its Galatasaray award, where it found FFP compatible with EU law (see commentary here). There is even a decent chance that this emerging saga may end up in front of the European Commission and eventually the Court of Justice of the European Union.

Sun Yang CAS award published

After a much-anticipated public hearing, the Panel’s award in the Sun Yang case has finally been published, sanctioning Sun Yang with an eight-year period of ineligibility (see here for a detailed commentary). The decision does not reveal anything groundbreaking in terms of its legal reasoning and in many ways the case will most likely be remembered for its historical significance: the case that jumpstarted a new era of increased public hearings at the CAS.

Perhaps of some interest is the extent to which the panel took into account Sun Yang’s behavior during the proceedings in order to support its assessment of the case. For example, the panel describes how Sun Yang had ignored the procedural rules of the hearing by inviting ‘an unknown and unannounced person from the public gallery to join him at his table and act as an impromptu interpreter’. The Panel interpreted this as Sun Yang attempting ‘to take matters into his own hands’ which it found resembled the athlete’s behavior in the case (see para 358). The Panel also found it ‘striking’ that Sun Yang did not express any remorse concerning his actions during the proceedings. Since the proceedings were held publicly and have been recorded, it is possible to verify the Panel’s assessment in this regard.

In the end, it is possible that Sun Yang may seek to reduce the period of ineligibility once the 2021 WADA Code comes into force (see para 368). For now, Sung Yang may also try to appeal the award to the Swiss Federal Tribunal on procedural grounds, and has already indicated his wish to do so.

Major International Sports Law Decisions

• CAS - CAS 2019/A/6148 World Anti-Doping Agency v. Sun Yang & Fédération Internationale de Natation
• CAS – CAS 2019/A/6298 Manchester City FC v. UEFA
• CAS - CAS 2019/A/6274 Inês Henriques, Claire Woods, Paola Pérez, Johana Ordóňez, Magaly Bonilla, Ainhoa Pinedo, Erin Taylor-Talcott & Quentin Rew v. IOC
• CAS - CAS 2018/A/6040 Club Atlético Boca Juniors v. CONMEBOL & Club Atlético River Plate

Recently Released CAS Decisions (since December 2019) where FIFA is a party:

• CAS - CAS 2019/A/6278 Cruzeiro EC v. FIFA
• CAS – CAS 2019 A 6276 Eskisehir Kulübü Dernegi v. Ruud Boffin & FIFA
• CAS - CAS 2019 A 6345 Club Raja Casablanca v. FIFA
• CAS - CAS 2019 A 6406 Football Association of Penang v. FIFA
• CAS - CAS 2019 A 6268 Clube Atlético Mineiro v. FIFA
• CAS - CAS 2018 A 5560 & 5650 Kuwait FA v. FIFA
• CAS - CAS 2019 A 6027 Sociedade Esportiva Palmeiras v. FIFA 
• CAS - CAS 2019 A 6305 Club Raja Casablanca v. FIFA
• CAS - CAS 2017 O 5264 & 5265 & 5266 Miami FC & Kingston Stockade FC v. FIFA, CONCACAF & USSF
• CAS - CAS 2019 A 6239 Cruzeiro EC v. FIFA

Official Documents and Press Releases

CAS

• CAS - Sun Yang is found guilty of a doping offense and sanctioned with an 8-year period of ineligibility
• CAS - CAS procedure between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA)
• CAS - CAS upholds the appeal of Italian swimmer Filippo Magnini - annuls four-year ban
• CAS - CAS registers the appeal of Manchester City v. UEFA
• CAS - CAS reduces the suspension of Russian race walker Alexander Ivanov to two years
• CAS - CAS lifts the suspension of the Brazilian swimmer Gabriel da Silva Santos
• CAS - CAS does not have jurisdiction to rule on the appeals that sought the inclusion of a Womens 50km Race Walk at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
• CAS - CAS orders Club Atlético River Plate to play its next two Copa Libertadores matches behind closed doors

FIFA

• FIFA - FIFA set to launch global fund for player salary protection
• FIFA - FIFA Disciplinary Committee sanctions four players for involvement in match manipulation
• FIFA - FIFA’s transfer report: Big 5 accounted for almost three quarters of global spending in January 2020
• FIFA – Letter: Amendments to the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players
• FIFA - Football stakeholders agree further steps in the reform of the transfer system

IOC

• IOC – Free Speech for Olympic Athletes
• IOC – IOC Sanctions One Athlete for Failing Anti-Doping Tests at London 2012

WADA

• WADA – WADA Compliance Review Committee update
• WADA - WADA update regarding testing of Chinese athletes in light of coronavirus
• WADA - WADA publishes Independent Observer Team Report from 2019 African Games
• WADA - WADA statement regarding CAS public hearing – WADA V. SUN YANG & FINA

Other

• Athletics Integrity Unit – First Instance Decision: Peter Kewmoi
• Athletics Integrity Unit – First Instance Decision: Ruth Jebet
• Athletics Integrity Unit – First Instance Decision: Virjilio Griggs
• Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) – FEI Tribunal issues Final Decisions
• Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) – Prohibited substance cases under FEI anti-doping rules
• FIBA - Mexican Basketball Federation suspended
• FIBA - Luxembourg Appeals Court rules in favor of FIBA Europe in Euroleague case
• FINA - FINA STATEMENT - Sun Yang (CHN)
• FIVB – Legal Commission praises the FIVB’s principles of transparency and good governance
• Global Athlete – Global Athlete Survey Results: Athlete Rights, Welfare and Representation
• Global Athlete – Athlete Groups Calling for an Open Hearing at Court of Arbitration of Sport for the RUSADA Proceedings
• Global Athlete – Weightlifting Athletes Support the Independent Investigation Being Led by Mr. Richard McLaren
• International Biathlon Union – IBU Anti-Doping Hearing Panel renders verdicts on Sleptsova and Ustyugov
• International Luge Federation (FIL) - FIL President Fendt announces penalty for Summer Britcher
• International Tennis Federation – 2019 Tennis Anti-Doping Programme testing summary
• UEFA - UEFA and CONMEBOL renew Memorandum of Understanding to enhance cooperation
• UEFA - Club Financial Control Body Adjudicatory Chamber decision on Manchester City Football Club
• World Curling - Membership of Polish Curling Association suspended

In the News

Football

• Tariq Panja - Audit Finds Suspicious Financial Dealings in African Soccer
• Martyn Ziegler - Manchester City demanded damages from ‘unlawful’ Uefa after Champions League ban recommendation, court documents reveal
• Philippe Auclair and Pål Ødegård – Out of Africa
• Tariq Panja and Rory Smith - Manchester City Banned From Champions League for 2 Seasons
• Rory Smith - Manchester City Vows to Fight, Because Losing Is Unthinkable
• Florian Soenen - Manchester City sanctionné : « Le Tribunal arbitral du sport pourrait considérer qu’il y a une inégalité avec le PSG »
• Jonathan Liew - Manchester City backers are not the sort to take Uefa's punishment lying down
• Associated Press - Soccer official challenges 10-year FIFA ban for self-dealing
• David Conn - Manchester City offer an olive branch now Uefa holds all the power
• Andrew Das - U.S. Women’s Soccer Team Sets Price for Ending Lawsuit: $67 Million
• Tariq Panja - FIFA, Seeking $1 Billion for Club World Cup, Hires U.S. Firm to Find It
• Graham Dunbar - A look at the legal issues in Man City’s appeal against UEFA

Doping

• Ali Iveson - Anti-doping testing in China suspended because of coronavirus fears
• Christoph Becker – Keine Transparenz im Anti-Doping-Kampf
• Graham Dunbar - Swimming authorities worked to protect Sun Yang from ban
• Tariq Panja - Dear CAS: With Flurry of Letters, Russia May Delay Olympic Ban
• Graham Dunbar - Olympic champion Sun Yang banned for 8 years in doping case

Other

• Eddie Pells - Survey finds Olympic, elite athletes struggling financially
• Andrew Keh and Ben Dooley - Grappling With Coronavirus, Tokyo Olympic Leaders Have No Good Options
• Alex Capstick and Rachel Nickolds - Blake Leeper: Paralympian appeals to CAS in bid to make 2020 Olympics

Academic Materials

International Sports Law Journal

• Chui Ling Goh - To what extent does the Paralympic Games promote the integration of disabled persons into society?

Other

• Steven A. Bank - FIFA, Forced Arbitration, and the U.S. Soccer Lawsuits

Blog

Asser International Sports Law Blog

• Thomas Terraz - How 2019 Will Shape the International Sports Law of the 2020s

Law in Sport

• Despina Mavromati - Riza v Turkey: European Court of Human Rights gives further guidance on establishing independent arbitral tribunals
• Christopher Flanagan - Manchester City's Financial Fair Play ban: the legal questions and consequences
• Christopher Chase - Rule 40 in the United States: new opportunities for sponsors but with strings attached
• Viktoria Tsvetanova - How competition law is shaping Olympic sponsorship: Part 1 – the origins and evolution of Rule 40
• Viktoria Tsvetanova - How competition law is shaping Olympic sponsorship: Part 2 – Germany's Competition Authority helps ease restrictions on athletes
• Celia Rooney - For the love of money: exploring the decision in the Saracens salary cap case
• Jack Anderson - A detailed review of the CAS Panel’s decision in WADA v Sun Yang & FINA

Play the Game

• Stanis Elsborg - A fist of freedom or a fist of iron? Rule 50 and the Olympic paradox

SportLegis

• Despina Mavromati - Sun Yang v. WADA & FINA – A CAS letter on the admissibility of the appeal is not an appealable decision to the Swiss Federal Tribunal

Upcoming Events

18-19 June 2020 – Sport & EU 2020 Annual Conference, Rijeka and Opatija, Croatia

Editor's note: This report compiles the most relevant legal news, events and materials on International and European Sports Law based on the daily coverage provided on our twitter feed @Sportslaw_asser. 

The Headlines

IOC Athlete Commission releases its Rule 50 Guidelines for Tokyo 2020

The IOC Athlete Commission presented its Rule 50 Guidelines for Tokyo 2020 at its annual joint meeting with the IOC Executive Board. It comes as Thomas Bach had recently underlined the importance of political neutrality for the IOC and the Olympic Games in his New Year’s message. Generally, rule 50 of the Olympic Charter prohibits any political and religious expression by athletes and their team during the Games, subject to certain exceptions. The Guidelines clarify that this includes the ‘field of play’, anywhere inside the Olympic Village, ‘during Olympic medal ceremonies’ and ‘during the Opening, Closing and other official ceremonies’. On the other hand, athletes may express their views ‘during press conferences and interview’, ‘at team meetings’ and ‘on digital or traditional media, or on other platforms. While rule 50 is nothing new, the Guidelines have reignited a debate on whether it could be considered as a justified restriction on one’s freedom of expression.

The IOC has made the case that it is defending the neutrality of sport and that the Olympics is an international forum that should help bring people together instead of focusing on divisions. Specifically, Richard Pound has recently made the argument that the Guidelines have been formulated by the athletes themselves and are a justified restriction on free expression with its basis in ‘mutual respect’. However, many commentators have expressed their skepticism to this view (see here, here and here) citing that politics and the Olympics are inherently mixed, that the IOC is heavily involved in politics, and that the Olympics has often served as the grounds for some of history’s most iconic political protests. All in all, the Guidelines have certainly been a catalyst for a discussion on the extent to which the Olympics can be considered neutral. It also further highlights a divide between athlete committees from within the Olympic Movement structures and other independent athlete representation groups (see Global Athlete and FIFPro’s statements on rule 50).

Doping and Corruption Allegations in Weightlifting 

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has found itself embroiled in a doping and corruption scandal after an ARD documentary was aired early in January which raised a wide array of allegations, including against the President of the IWF, Tamás Aján. The documentary also included hidden camera interviews from a Thai Olympic medalist who admits having taken anabolic steroids before having won a bronze medal at the 2012 London Olympic Games and from a team doctor from the Moldovan national team who describes paying for clean doping tests. The IWF’s initial reaction to the documentary was hostile, describing the allegations as ‘insinuations, unfounded accusations and distorted information’ and ‘categorically denies the unsubstantiated’ accusations. It further claims that it has ‘immediately acted’ concerning the situation with the Thai athletes, and WADA has stated that it will follow up with the concerned actors. However, as the matter gained further attention in the main stream media and faced increasing criticism, the IWF moved to try to ‘restore’ its reputation. In practice, this means that Tamás Aján has ‘delegated a range of operation responsibilities’ to Ursual Papandrea, IWF Vice President, while ‘independent experts’ will conduct a review of the allegations made in the ARD documentary. Richard McLaren has been announced to lead the investigation and ‘is empowered to take whatever measures he sees fit to ensure each and every allegation is fully investigated and reported’. The IWF has also stated that it will open a whistleblower line to help aid the investigation.

Major International Sports Law Decisions

European Court of Human Rights - Judgment Ali Riza and Others v. Turkey - system for settling football disputes must be reformed

Official Documents and Press Releases

FIFA

• FIFA - Infantino elected to International Olympic Committee
• FIFA - FIFA develops new and enhanced integrity resources for member associations and confederations
• FIFA - FIFA and hosts Qatar present joint FIFA World Cup™ Sustainability Strategy
• FIFA - FIFA reports show further upward trend in both men’s and women’s transfer markets
•   FIFA - Reform proposals concerning football agents’ regulations

IOC

• IOC – IOC Session Receives Updates on Anti-Doping Activities
• IOC – IOC Statement on Notice of Intervention in the CAS Case of WADA and RUSADA
• IOC – The IOC and the Olympic Games – Addressing Climate Change
• IOC – President Bach Re-Emphasises Importance of Solidarity Model and Political Neutrality at IOC Session
• IOC – IOC Executive Board and IOC Athletes’ Commission Discuss Major Topics at Annual Joint Meeting
• IOC – Statement by the IOC Regarding the Situation of the IWF

WADA

• WADA - WADA files official request with Court of Arbitration for Sport to resolve RUSADA dispute
• WADA - WADA launches its new ‘Testing Center’ – a ‘Next Gen’ ADAMS module that will help strengthen testing programs worldwide
• WADA - WADA provisionally suspends approved status of Moscow Laboratory
• WADA - WADA Executive Committee appoints new Standing Committee Chairs, receives update regarding RUSADA compliance case
• WADA - WADA statement on German documentary concerning the International Weightlifting Federation

Other

• Athletics Integrity Unit - Athletics Integrity Unit Board refers RusAF charges to the World Athletics Council and recommends considering expulsion of the federation.
• Athletics Integrity Unit - World Athletics v Michelle-Lee Ahye
• Athletics Integrity Unit – Decision of the Athletics Integrity Unite in the case of Ms Kateryna Tabashnyk
• EU Athletes - Statement on Bye-law 3 to Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter
• Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI) – Prohibited substance cases under FEI human anti-doping rules
• Fédération Internationale de Volleyball (FIVB) – FIVB Commits to Further Investments in its Athletes
• FIFPRO – FIFPro Underlines Commitment to Player Activism
• Global Athlete – Global Athlete Statement in Response to IOC President Thomas Bach’s New Year’s Message
• Global Athlete – Statement based on the new ARD Documentary “Secret Doping – the Lord of the Lifters”
• Global Athlete – Global Athlete Calls on UK Anti-Doping to Provide More Transparency in its Refusal to Allow WADA to Retest Anti-Doping Samples
• Global Athlete – Athletes Call for IWF President to Stand Down and Submit to Full Investigation
• International Canoe Federation - ICF decision on Laurence Vincent Lapointe
• International Tennis Federation – Provisional suspension imposed on Nicolas Jarry
• International Tennis Federation – ITF President David Haggerty Elected IOC Member
• International Weightlifting Federation – IWF rejects ARD allegations
• International Weightlifting Federation – IWF Acts Decisively to Restore Reputation
• International Weightlifting Federation – IWF Executive Board Appoints Richard H. McLaren to Lead Investigation into ARD Allegations
• Tennis Integrity Unit – Lifetime Ban and $200,000 Fine for Joao Olavo Soares de Souza After Conviction on Match-Fixing Charges
• Tennis Integrity Unit – Tennis Integrity Unit Publishes Annual Review for 2019
• Tennis Integrity Unit – Jonathan Kanar Suspended and Fined After Admitting to Corruption Offence
• UCI - The UCI commits to developing cyclo-cross and reinforcing the fight against doping
• UKAD – UKAD Statement regarding the reanalysis of athlete samples and WADA
• UNI Global Union - ILO affirms: athletes must be protected by fundamental principles and rights at work
• UNI Global Union - ILO finds professional athletes face widespread workplace challenges
• World Archery – Beginners’ Guide to Rule 50 for Archery at the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games
• World Athletics - World Athletics modifies rules governing competition shoes for elite athletes
• World Athletics - World Athletics to postpone World Athletics Indoor Championships Nanjing 2020
• World Athletics - Charges brought by the AIU against RusAF for breach of the anti-doping rules

In the News

Football

• Rob Harris - One deal agents can’t reach in transfer window is with FIFA
• David Conn - Revealed: the scale of Manchester City’s FFP breaches before 2014 Uefa deal
• Tim Wigmore - Exclusive: Doubts raised over whether Premier League clubs can sign young Europeans after January Brexit deadline
• Tariq Panja - La Liga Chief Claims Saudi Arabia Is Using Sports to ‘Whitewash’ Reputation

Doping

• Sean Ingle - Claims of Russian doping deal as trial begins of former IAAF president Diack
• Sean Ingle - IOC concerned by ‘very serious’ doping allegations in weightlifting

Other

• Sean Ingle - World Athletics gives seal of approval for controversial Nike Vaporfly shoes
• Graham Dunbar - IOC details rules on political protests at Olympics
• Tariq Panja - Olympic Protest Rules: Tweets Are Fine, Kneeling Is Not
• Richard Hinds - The Olympics is a politically potent event, and it is an absurd pretence that 'politics and sport don't mix'
• Dave Zirin - John Carlos Responds to the New Olympics Ban on Political Protest
• Jules Boykoff - The Olympics are political. The IOC ban denies reality — and athletes their voice.

Academic Materials

ASSER International Sports Law Series

• Bart van der Sloot, Mara Paun and Ronald Leenes - Athletes’ Human Rights and the Fight against Doping: A Study of the European Legal Framework    

Other

• Mariusz Motyka-Mojkowski and Dennis Cukurov - Restrictions of Sport Sponsorship from a Competition Law Perspective—Recent Example from Germany

Blog

Asser International Sports Law Blog

• Thomas Terraz - Balancing Athletes’ Interests and The Olympic Partner Programme: the Bundeskartellamt’s Rule 40 Decision

Law in Sport

• Ben Koh and Tracey Holmes - Are you being heard? How the Sun Yang public hearing exposes a gap in athletes’ rights
• Toni Roca and Xavi Fernández - Tackling bridge transfers in football: An important ruling from the Royal Spanish Football Federation
• Jonathan Bellamy - An overview of FIFA’s new data protection regulations
• Jonathan Collins - Switching nations: why FIFA’s definition of ‘nationality’ is causing confusion

Sports Integrity Initiative

• Andy Brown - Strict liability in anti-doping is punishing the innocent*
• Andy Brown - Pressure builds on IWF as corruption claims are corroborated

SportLegis

• Despina Mavromati - Ali Riza et al. v. Turkey – European Court of Human Rights Judgment of 28 January 2020

Podcasts

• France Culture - Dakar saoudien, Mondial qatari : un cap pour la péninsule

Upcoming Events

• 05 March 2020 - Mega-sporting events and human rights: What role can EU sports diplomacy play?, Asser Institute, The Hague, The Netherlands
• 17-18 March 2020 – WADA Annual Symposium, SwissTech Convention Center, Lausanne, Switzerland
• 26-27 March 2020 – 14^th Conference of the PSA Sport & Politics Group, Etihad Stadium, Manchester, UK
• 18-19 June 2020 – Sport & EU 2020 Annual Conference, Rijeka and Opatija, Croatia

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 

2024 and 2028 Olympic Games to be held in Paris and Los Angeles respectively

On 13 September 2017, the Session of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) held in Lima, Peru, elected Paris and Los Angeles as host cities of the 2024 and 2028 Olympic Games respectively. On this occasion, the IOC President Thomas Bach said that ''this historic double allocation is a 'win-win-win' situation for the city of Paris, the city of Los Angeles and the IOC''. The idea of a tripartite agreement whereby two editions of the Olympic Games would be awarded at the same time was presented by a working group of the IOC Vice-Presidents established in March 2017. Both Paris and Los Angeles have pledged to make the Olympic Games cost-efficient, in particular through the use of a record-breaking number of existing and temporary facilities. In addition to economic aspects, it will be worthwhile to keep an eye on how both cities will address human rights and other similar concerns that may arise in the run-up to the Olympic Games. 

FIFA President accused of interfering with the work of the FIFA Governance Committee

On 13 September 2017, Miguel Maduro, a former Chair of the FIFA Governance Committee who was summarily dismissed in May 2017, appeared in the UK House of Commons to give testimony on the undue influence that FIFA's President Gianni Infantino allegedly exerted over the work of the Governance Committee. Most importantly, Maduro claimed that Infantino attempted to interfere with the Governance Committee's decision to bar Vitaly Mutko, a Deputy Prime Minister of Russia, from sitting on the FIFA Council. The former Chair of the Governance Committee commented that Infantino ''chose to politically survive'' and carried on to assert that FIFA has a ''deeply embedded structure that is extremely resistant to independent scrutiny, transparency and accountability''. FIFA denied Maduro's accusations, stating that ''exchanges between the administration and FIFA's committees […] are logical and even desirable, so for these exchanges to be portrayed as undue influence is factually incorrect''.

The CAS award in Jersey Football Association v. UEFA

In its press release of 28 September 2017, the CAS communicated that it had delivered an award in the dispute between the Jersey Football Association (JFA) and UEFA which emerged from the JFA's application for UEFA membership submitted in December 2015. The CAS set aside the decision rendered by the UEFA Executive Committee on 1 September 2016 in which the JFA's application for UEFA membership was rejected, and ordered that the respective application be forwarded to the UEFA Congress for consideration. In view of the CAS, it is the UEFA Congress and not the UEFA Executive Committee that is competent to consider membership applications. It should be stressed, however, that the CAS dismissed the JFA's request to ''take all necessary measures to admit the JFA as a full member of UEFA without delay'', noting that the UEFA Congress has discretionary powers to admit new members. In this regard, the CAS further held that, on the basis of the evidence provided, it appeared that the JFA did not satisfy the requirements for UEFA membership laid down in Article 5(1) of the UEFA Statutes.

Official Documents and Press Releases

• CAS – The CAS rules on the case Jersey Football Association v. UEFA
• Human Rights Now – Letters demanding that Olympic authorities end rainforest destruction and human rights abuses connected to Tokyo 2020 Olympics construction
• Human Rights Watch – Qatar: Take urgent action to protect construction workers
• IOC – Declaration of the IOC Executive Board in Lima
• IOC – IOC Athletes' Commission Strategy
• IOC – IOC makes historic decision by simultaneously awarding Olympic Games 2024 to Paris and 2028 to Los Angeles
• IOC – Report of the IOC 2028 Evaluation Commission
• UEFA – 13^th Extraordinary UEFA Congress decisions
• UEFA – Keeping competitive balance – Aleksander Čeferin
• UEFA – Nations League regulations approved
• UEFA – UEFA President reflects on a rewarding year of progress
• WADA – 2018 List of Prohibited Substances and Methods
• WADA – 2018 Summary of major modifications and explanatory notes
• WADA – Proposed International Standard for Code Compliance by Signatories – Version 2.0
• WADA – Tanzania ratifies UNESCO Anti-Doping Convention
• WADA – WADA launches Phase II of stakeholder consultation on Compliance Standard
• WADA – WADA provisionally suspends accreditation of Paris Laboratory

In the news

Doping

• Associated Press Russian doping whistleblower faces arrest if he returns
• Sean Ingle Anti-doping agencies call on IOC to ban Russia from 2018 Winter Olympics
• Tariq Panja IOC investigation of Russian doping might soon yield penalties
• RT News McLaren denies he 'dropped charges' of state involvement in doping in Russia
• Swimming World Court of Arbitration for Sport reduces sanctions on Canadian swimmer William Brothers

Football

• Ed Aarons FIFA and UEFA accused of being 'enablers' of tax evasion in football by MEPs
• CIES Football Observatory Balance sheets for transfer operations: From Monaco to Paris St-Germain
• David Conn FIFA's Infantino accused of interfering with governance committee decisions
• David Conn FIFA President Gianni Infantino accused of bad governance by former committee member
• Paul Ferguson Irish FA to ask FIFA for money back after poppy u-turn
• FIFPro Danish women's World Cup conflict explained
• Rob Harris Spanish league wants UEFA to investigate Man City's spending
• Steve Menary Tebas calls for European Union probe into Neymar transfer
• Tariq Panja FIFA President Gianni Infantino faces new ethics complaint
• Tariq Panja Former FIFA official's testimony could raise new ethics questions
• John Percy Leicester City submit appeal to FIFA in bid to complete £25 million Adrien Silva signing
• Ben Rumsby Chelsea face second FIFA investigation in eight years over youth transfer policy
  

Other

• BBC News Sergey Bubka: Athletics Integrity Unit looking into payment to ex-IAAF treasurer
• Tim Daniels Prosecutors allege Brazil's Olympic Committee conspired to buy IOC votes
• Marina Hyde IOC selective blindness continues but Rio 2016 scandal looks all too familiar
• Liam Morgan IOC admit votes may have been bought by Diack in Olympic Games bidding process
• Sebastian Smith Brazil police say Rio Olympics were bought in corrupt scheme

Academic Materials

• Antoine Duval and Oskar van Maren The Labour Status of Professional Football Players in the European Union: Unity in/and/or Diversity?

Blog

Asser International Sports Law Blog

• Christopher Flanagan The Evolution of UEFA's Financial Fair Play Rules – Part 1: Background and EU Law
• Christopher Flanagan The Evolution of UEFA's Financial Fair Play Rules – Part 2: The Legal Challenges
• Tomáš Grell FIFA's Human Rights Agenda: Is the Game Beautiful Again?

Law in Sport

• Jack Anderson and Neil Partington Duty of care in sport: The case for a sports ombudsman in the UK
• Hazar El-Chamaa The lifecycle of an international athlete: Part 2 – Key immigration issues when entering the UK
• Laura Dadswell The lifecycle of an international athlete: Part 3 – Key UK income tax points for non-residents
• Tim Meakin, Tim Walker and Richard Davies Confidential data leaks: What are the vicarious liability risks for sports organizations?
• John Mehrzad Who has jurisdiction over international football transfer disputes?
• Michael Savva An update on Financial Fair Play – Case study: The Neymar transfer
• Gavin Stenton The lifecycle of an international athlete: Part 4 – Dealing with branding and image rights

Others

• James M. Dorsey Tackling the elephant in the room: The incestuous and inseparable relationship between sports and politics
• Simon Kuper Soccer's culture of corruption
• Nick De Marco New regulation of football intermediaries

Upcoming Events

• 26-27 October – ISLJ Annual Conference on International Sports Law, T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague, the Netherlands [We have only a couple of seats left, register now!]