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 CAS award in RFC Seraing v. FIFA

On 10 March 2017, FIFA published a short press release which praised the long-awaited award delivered by the CAS in the appeal of the Belgian football club RFC Seraing against FIFA’s decision. The French version of the award is now available on the CAS’s website.

The dispute in question emerged from agreements concluded between RFC Seraing and Doyen Sports Investments Limited, a private investment company known for its engagement in the acquisition of professional football players’ economic rights (Doyen). These agreements allowed Doyen to (i) influence the independence and the policy of the Belgian club; and (ii) receive an indemnity payable in connection with the future transfer of certain players. In September 2015, the FIFA Disciplinary Committee held that by entering into these agreements, RFC Seraing violated Articles 18bis and 18ter of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP) prohibiting the third-party influence on clubs and the third-party ownership of players’ economic rights. As a result, the Belgian club was banned from registering players on a national and international level for four consecutive registration periods and obliged to pay a fine of CHF 150,000.

On appeal, the CAS Panel has confirmed that Articles 18bis and 18ter RSTP are valid under European law and Swiss law. Having considered the sanction imposed by the FIFA Disciplinary Committee on RFC Seraing disproportionate, the CAS Panel reduced the transfer ban from four to three consecutive registration periods. For an in-depth analysis of the award, we invite you to read the recent blog written by our senior researcher Mr Antoine Duval.

The CAS award in Olga Abramova v. International Biathlon Union

On 1 January 2016, WADA prohibited the use of meldonium for the first time. A few days later, Ms Olga Abramova, a Russian-born Ukrainian biathlete, underwent an in-competition doping control which revealed the presence of meldonium in her body. An independent investigation was conducted by the Anti-Doping Hearing Panel (ADHP) of the International Biathlon Union. On 14 November 2016, the ADHP rendered a decision in which (i) Ms Abramova was found to have committed an anti-doping rule violation (meldonium); and (ii) a one-year period of ineligibility was imposed on her. Eventually, Ms Abramova appealed the said decision before the CAS.

In its press release dated 19 April 2017, the CAS announced that the appeal filed by Ms Abramova had been partially upheld. The CAS Panel has found to its comfortable satisfaction that Ms Abramova fulfilled her obligation to ensure that meldonium did not enter her body after 1 January 2016 (i.e. the date when meldonium was added to the list of prohibited substances). In other words, Ms Abramova ‘could not reasonably have known or suspected even with the exercise of utmost caution that meldonium could still be detected in her blood after 1 January 2016’. Accordingly, the CAS Panel has cancelled the one-year period of ineligibility imposed on Ms Abramova. It should be noted, however, that, in accordance with WADA Guidelines, the CAS Panel has confirmed the disqualification of any results achieved by Ms Abramova between 10 January 2016 and 3 February 2016.

France investigates potential corruption linked to the selection procedure for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup

Following the United States and Switzerland, France has recently become the third country to open a criminal investigation into potential corruption relating to the selection procedure for the 2018 and 2022 FIFA World Cup finals which are scheduled to take place in Russia and Qatar respectively. The Parquet National Financier, a French authority responsible for law enforcement against serious financial crime, has reportedly interviewed the former FIFA President Mr Joseph Blatter. The former UEFA President Mr Michel Platini, who admitted in the past that he had eventually decided to cast his vote for Qatar following a lunch with the former French President Mr Nicolas Sarkozy and senior Qatari officials, has not been interrogated by French authorities yet.

Sports Law Related Decisions

• CAS – Award delivered in the arbitration between RFC Seraing and FIFA
• Comisión Nacional de los Mercados y la Competencia (Spanish competition authority) – Decision on Liga Endesa and its anticompetitive behaviour
• European Commission – Decision on support from central government of the Czech Republic to non-profit sport facilities

Official Documents and Press Releases

• CAS – CAS cancels the one-year period of ineligibility imposed on Olga Abramova
• CAS – CAS issues decisions in the cases of Stanislav Emelyanov, Ekaterina Poistogova, Vladimir Kazarin and Alexey Melnikov
• FIFA – Activity report 2016
• FIFA – Agenda of the 67^th FIFA Congress
• FIFA – FIFA publishes new annual reports and confirms target result of USD 100 million for cycle
• FIFA – Financial report 2016
• FIFA – Football official Richard K. Lai banned by independent Ethics Committee for 90 days from all football activities
• FIFA – Governance report 2016
• IAAF – Independent Athletics Integrity Unit is operational
• IOC – IOC sanctions three athletes for failing anti-doping test at Beijing 2008 and London 2012
• IOC – IOC sanctions two athletes for failing anti-doping test at Beijing 2008 and London 2012
• Paralympic Movement – CAS decision on Russian Paralympic Committee confirmed by the Swiss Federal Tribunal
• UEFA – Three clubs exit settlement agreement with CFCB
• UEFA – UEFA Congress approves good governance reforms
• WADA – 2015 Anti-doping rule violations report
• WADA – Statement regarding Italian Tribunal decision on Michele Ferrari and entourage
• WADA – Statement on ARD documentary
• WADA – WADA reinstates the Madrid Laboratory
• WADA – WADA removes Brazil from the World Anti-Doping Code non-compliant list
• WADA – Yemen ratifies UNECO Anti-Doping Convention

In the news

Doping

• AFP News UK chief calls for more money in fight against doping
• The Associated Press 5 Russians banned for doping at Olympics
• The Associated Press IAAF clears 2 Russian world champions, 5 others to compete
• The Associated Press Lawmaker in Russia fights Olympic doping case at CAS
• Andy Brown Meldonium 2.0? Jamaican case highlights need for clenbuterol thresholds
• Hajo Seppelt and Thilo Neumann IOC sweeps test results under the carpet
• Sky Sports UEFA unhappy with WADA over Mamadou Sakho’s ban
• Joscha Weber Doping pressure mounts on IOC at German parliament

Football 

• Andy Brown CONMEBOL publishes details of suspicious bank transfers totalling USD 129 million
• CIES Football Observatory The Champions League among the most unbalanced competitions
• David Conn France investigates votes for 2018 and 2022 World Cups and questions Blatter
• David Conn Newcastle United and West Ham raided in HMRC tax fraud investigation
• Rob Harris Anglo-French soccer fraud probe sees raids on teems, arrests
• Liam Morgan Sheikh Ahmad resigns from all footballing roles following alleged corruption link
• MSN Qatar football official wins FIFA ban appeal
•  Reuters FIFA compliance official pleads guilty in U.S. bribery case
• Reuters Genoa defender Armando Izzo banned for 18 months over match-fixing claims
• Charles Sale FIFA legal bills for investigation into corruption in football hit £80 million mark
• Stephan Uersfeld DFB backs Bild over claims of Russian censorship for Confederations Cu

Other

• Nick Butler IOC ban 2024 candidate cities from Pan-American Sports Organisation General Assembly
• Bryan Armen Graham eSports to be a medal event at 2022 Asian Games
• Craig Lord Governance review lawyers tell FINA that Ethics Panel must have stand-alone powers
• Reuters CAS upholds Mexican player’s appeal against match-fixing ban

Academic Materials

 International Sports Law Journal, April 2017, Volume 16, Issue 3

• Johan Lindholm Editorial to the International Sports Law Journal, Volume 16, Issue 3-4
• Mordehai Mironi The Promise of Mediation in Sports-related Disputes
• Oskar van Maren How to Bail Out Your Local Club: The Application of the State Aid Rules to Professional Football Clubs in Financial Difficulty
• Antoine Duval The Russian Doping Scandal at the Court of Arbitration for Sport: Lessons for the World Anti-Doping System
• Paolo Garraffa Michael Jordan’s Who? The Trade Mark Litigation between Michael Jordan and ‘Qiaodan’ Sports
• Terence D. Brennan Over Compensation: The Battle for Training Compensation and Solidarity in United States Soccer
• Salomeja Zaksaite and Karolis Radoševičius Manipulation of Competitions in Formula 1: Where Policy Ends and Cheating Begins
• Jonathan G. Merritt ‘Don’t Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth: Regulating for Integrity, What Equestrianism Can Learn from Thoroughbred Racing’
• Claire Sumner The Spirit of Sport: The Case for Criminalisation of Doping in the UK

Others

• Borja García A New Horizon in European Sports Law: The Application of the EU State Aid Rules Meets the Specific Nature of Sport
• John Grady Analysing Rule 40’s Restrictions on Using Athletes in Olympic Sponsorship at Rio 2016
• Maureen Weston The Regulation of Doping in U.S. and International Sports
• Salomeja Zaksaite and Karolis Radoševičius Manipulation of Competitions in Formula 1: Where Policy Ends and Cheating Begins

Blog

Asser International Sports Law Blog

• Antoine Duval RFC Seraing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport: How FIFA’s TPO Ban Survived (Again) EU Law Scrutiny
• Saverio Spera The Validity of Unilateral Extension Options in Football – Part 1: A European Legal Mess
• Adriaan Wijckmans The Legality of Surety Undertakings in Relation to Minor Football Players: The Lokilo Case

Law in Sport

• Thomas Barnard Six key points for footballers to consider when signing their first professional contract
• Lydia Banerjee How a change in approach could help tackle racism in football – The Jonjo Shelvey case
• Manali Kulkarni Child welfare in sport – How different countries approach mitigating the risks relating to contact sports for children
• Despina Mavromati The application of Swiss law in doping cases before the CAS and the Swiss Federal Tribunal
• Zane Shibab, James Thorndyke and Thomas Gibby How to recover prize money from doping athletes: Lessons for event organisers from the Shobukhova case
• Jamie Singer and Leon Farr Changing nationality in sport: Where should we draw the line? A review of the Aljaz Bedene case

Others

• Aage Radmann Another book about football hooliganism – is that really necessary?
• Andreas Selliaas How far should governments go controlling the governance of international sports federations?
• Ross Tucker On the Jamaican clenbuterol positives: A procedural failure and credibility black hole
• Mike Woitalla How FIFA rules hurt immigrant children in the USA

Upcoming Events 

• 7-9 June – International Conference on Doping and Public Health, Thon Hotel Ullevaal Stadion, Oslo, Norway
• 29-30 June – Sport & EU 12^th Annual Conference, Molde University College, Molde, Norway
• 26-27 October – ISLJ Annual Conference on International Sports Law, T.M.C. Asser Institute, The Hague, the Netherlands. Save the date!

Women In Sports Law (WISLaw) is an international, non-profit association based in Switzerland and aimed at promoting women in the sports law sector, through scientific and networking events, annual meetings and annual reports. WISLaw’s objectives are to raise awareness of the presence, role and contribution of women in the sports law sector, enhance their cooperation, and empower its global membership through various initiatives.

This year, WISLaw has partnered with the Asser International Sports Law Blog to organise a special blog symposium featuring WISLaw members. The  symposium will entail both the publication of a series of blog posts authored by WISLaw members, and a virtual webinar (accessible at https://lnkd.in/dgWsy6q with the Passcode 211433) to promote discussion on the selected topics. Article contributions were invited on the topic of legal issues surrounding the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. In the midst of a pandemic and the rise of social justice movements around the world, the Games and their organisation gave rise to a number of interesting legal issues and challenges, which will be explored through a variety of lenses. 

We hope that you enjoy and participate in the discussion.