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Legal Status and Autonomy of International Sporting Governing Bodies and Rules Governing Sporting Nationality

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Sporting Nationality in the Context of European Union Law

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Abstract

Regarding the notion of sporting nationality, international sporting governing bodies play a vital role since they set up and enforce rules governing athletes’ eligibility for national teams.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    Annex I to this book provides a list of all international sports organisations.

  2. 2.

    Olympic Charter (2017), Rule 25.

  3. 3.

    Council of Europe Convention on the Manipulation of Sports Competitions (2014), Article 3.2.

  4. 4.

    On the legal status of the the International Olympic Committee (IOC), see inter alia Mestre (2009), p. 256; see also Ettinger (1992).

  5. 5.

    Switzerland is home to more international sports federations and governing bodies than any other place in the world. Since 1915, when Lausanne was chosen as the seat of the IOC, more than 50 international sports organisations have established their headquarters in Switzerland.

  6. 6.

    Case T-313/02, Meca-Medina and Majcen v. Commission, [2004] EU:T:2004:282, paragraph 1; see also Case C-519/04 P, Meca-Medina and Majcen v. Commission, [2006] EU:C:2006:492, paragraph 2.

  7. 7.

    Olympic Charter (2017), Fundamental Principles of Olympism, principle 5.

  8. 8.

    Olympic Charter (2017), rule 26.

  9. 9.

    Ibid.

  10. 10.

    Statutes of the Czech Olympic Committee (2018).

  11. 11.

    Exner (2013), p. 1030.

  12. 12.

    FIFA Statutes (2018), rules 22–23. These confederations are Asian Football Confederation (AFC), Confederation of African Football (CAF), Confederation of North, Central American and Caribbean Association Football (CONCACAF), Confederación Sudamericana de Fútbol, (CONMEBOL), Oceania Football Confederation (OFC) and Union of European Football Associations (UEFA).

  13. 13.

    FIFA Statutes (2018), Rules 10–20.

  14. 14.

    England, Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales.

  15. 15.

    “Palestine Football: Escape to Victory?”, Bruisedearth, 27 October 2008, retrieved 31 October 2018.

  16. 16.

    FIFA Statutes (2018), Rules 24–48.

  17. 17.

    Article 75 of the Swiss Civil Code, which is a mandatory provision of the Swiss law, allows for an appeal to a court or an arbitral tribunal. International sporting governing bodies may decide whether the CAS has jurisdiction to rule on a specific issue. On the other hand, if the dispute in question is not covered by the arbitration clause, the Swiss courts have jurisdiction to rule on the dispute.

  18. 18.

    Former IOC President Jean Antonio Samaranch initiated the foundation of the CAS as the “Supreme Court of World Sport”. See for example MacLaren, “Twenty-Five Years of the Court of Arbitration for Sport: A look in the rear-view mirror” (2010), Marquette Sports Law Review, p. 306.

  19. 19.

    Mutu and Pechstein v. Switzerland, no. 40575/10 and 67474/10, 2 October 2018, ECLI:CE:ECHR:2018:1002JUD004057510.

  20. 20.

    For the status and functioning of the CAS see Code of Sports-related Arbitration (2017) and the CAS’s website: http://www.tas-cas.org/en/index.html; regarding the relationship of EU law and the CAS, see Duval (2015).

  21. 21.

    European Sports Charter (1992, revised 2001), Article 3.

  22. 22.

    All the relevant legal documents are available on her website at http://www.claudia-pechstein.de/gerichtsunterlagen.php. On the complained lodged with the ECHR see Complaint no. no 67474/10. On the dispute see also McArdle, “Longitudinal profiling, sports arbitration and the woman who had nothing to lose: some thoughts on Pechstein v. International Skating Union” in M. McNamee, V. Møller (Ed.) (2011) pp. 50–65.

  23. 23.

    ISU Constitution (2016), Articles 26 and 27.

  24. 24.

    BGH, 7. 6. 2016 - KZR 6/15, Pechstein v. International Skating Union [2016].

  25. 25.

    Mutu and Pechstein v. Switzerland, no. 40575/10 and 67474/10, 2 October 2018, ECLI:CE:ECHR:2018:1002JUD004057510.

  26. 26.

    Mutu and Pechstein v. Switzerland, no. 40575/10 and 67474/10, 2 October 2018, ECLI:CE:ECHR:2018:1002JUD004057510, paragraphs 92–96.

  27. 27.

    Mutu and Pechstein v. Switzerland, no. 40575/10 and 67474/10, 2 October 2018, ECLI:CE:ECHR:2018:1002JUD004057510, paragraphs 77–123.

  28. 28.

    Mutu and Pechstein v. Switzerland, no. 40575/10 and 67474/10, 2 October 2018, ECLI:CE:ECHR:2018:1002JUD004057510, paragraphs 77–123.

  29. 29.

    Mutu and Pechstein v. Switzerland, no. 40575/10 and 67474/10, 2 October 2018, ECLI:CE:ECHR:2018:1002JUD004057510, paragraphs 124–168.

  30. 30.

    Mutu and Pechstein v. Switzerland, no. 40575/10 and 67474/10, 2 October 2018, ECLI:CE:ECHR:2018:1002JUD004057510, paragraphs 169–184.

  31. 31.

    Lawton and Fagge (2013).

  32. 32.

    Januzaj’s eligibility in the national team of England is disputable. Januzaj’s eligibility relates in this respect to the relationship between Articles 6(2) and 7(d) of the Regulations Governing the Application of the FIFA Statutes. Januzaj does not meet the criteria set out in the aforementioned Article 7(d) and he would therefore need an exception from the FIFA in order to be eligible to play for England.

  33. 33.

    Kosovo is not a member of the FIFA. Therefore, the Regulations Governing the Application of the FIFA Statues do not apply. As a consequence, Kosovo may field any citizen of Kosovo, even if he elected a national team pursuant to Article 5(2). When Kosovo becomes a full member of the FIFA, such a player will no longer be eligible to play for the country.

  34. 34.

    Kelner (2014).

  35. 35.

    Humphreys (2015).

  36. 36.

    Danijel Šarić Profile, European Handball Federation, archived from the original on 10 June 2017, retrieved 31 October 2018.

  37. 37.

    Anastasiya Kuzmina Profile, International Biathlon Union, archived from the original on 9 June 2017, retrieved 31 October 2018; Anton Shipulin Profile, International Biathlon Union, archived from the original on 9 June 2017, retrieved 31 October 2018.

  38. 38.

    Jakov Fak Profile, International Biathlon Union, archived from the original on 9 June 2017, retrieved 31 October 2018.

  39. 39.

    Examples of other athletes who have changed their national teams in the course of their careers: Alpine skiing – Kilian Albrech (Austria to Bulgaria); biathlon – Nathalie Santer-Bjørndalen (Italy to Belgium), Michael Rösch (Germany to Belgium); cycling – Christopher Froome (Kenya to United Kingdom); figure skating - Aljona Sawtschenko (Ukraine to Germany); football – Diego Costa (Brazil to Spain), Miroslav Klose (Poland to Germany), Pepe (Brazil to Portugal), Lukas Podolski (Poland to Germany); ice hockey - Peter Šťastný (Czechoslovakia to Canada to Slovakia); nordic skiing – Kateřina Smutná (Czech Republic to Austria to Czech Republic), Johann Mühlegg (Germany to Spain); tennis – Ivan Lendl (Czechoslovakia to USA), Martina Navrátilová (Czechoslovakia to USA).

  40. 40.

    Hafner (2008).

  41. 41.

    Also referred to as citizenship.

  42. 42.

    Iorwerth et al. (2014), p. 329; on the influence and implications of legal nationality in sports see Pautot (2014), p. 269; Calmat (1992), pp. 51–56; Hervé (2009), pp. 1–10.

  43. 43.

    Nottebohm (Liechtenstein v. Guatemala), ICJ Reports 1955: 4, 23; see European Convention on Nationality, Article 2, for a very similar definition.

  44. 44.

    Ibid.

  45. 45.

    Lajous (2012), p. 286.

  46. 46.

    Athletes’ eligibility in national teams became an issue even earlier. There are examples of athletes changing their eligibility during the ancient Olympic Games in Greece. To this end see Hafner (2009).

  47. 47.

    Shachar and Hirschl (2013).

  48. 48.

    Exner (2018).

  49. 49.

    Mestre (2009), p. 75.

  50. 50.

    Hafner (2008), p. 1.

  51. 51.

    “Falsche Fans simulieren Stimmung”, Frankfurter Allgemeine. 20 January 2015 retrieved 31 October 2018.

  52. 52.

    “Qatar’s foreign legion primed for handball date with Germany”, DW, 27 January 2015, retrieved 31 October 2018.

  53. 53.

    Finn (2016).

  54. 54.

    Iorwerth et al. (2014), p. 329.

  55. 55.

    Shachar (2011), p. 2108.

  56. 56.

    de Groot (2006), p. 4.

  57. 57.

    Iorwerth et al. (2014), p. 335.

  58. 58.

    Hafner (2008), p. 1.

  59. 59.

    Dubey (2004), p. 37.‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

  60. 60.

    Nafziger (2004), p. 133.

  61. 61.

    McCutcheon (2001), p. 127.

  62. 62.

    Hafner (2008), p. 1.

  63. 63.

    CAS 92/80, B. v. International Basketball Federation (FIBA), [1993], Reeb (Ed.) (1998), p. 304; Hafner (2012), p. 216.

  64. 64.

    ISU Special Regulations & Technical Rules, Single and Pair Skating & Ice Dance (2018), Rules 411, 412, 413.

  65. 65.

    CAS 92/80, B. v. International Basketball Federation (FIBA), [1993], Reeb (Ed.) (1998), p. 304; Hafner (2012), p. 216.

  66. 66.

    CAS 98/2009, Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB) / International Basketball Federation (FIBA), [1999], Reeb (Ed.) (2002), p. 503; CAS 98/215, International Baseball Association (IBA), Advisory Opinion, [1999].

  67. 67.

    Dubey (2004), p. 37.‬ ‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬‬

  68. 68.

    Legal nationality is the determining criterion when it comes to athletes’ eligibility in the Olympic Games. Rule 41 of the Olympic Charter provides that “any competitor in the Olympic Games must be a national of the country of the NOC (national olympic committee) which is entering such competitor.”

  69. 69.

    Olympic Charter (2017), Rule 40.

  70. 70.

    Olympic Charter (2017), By-law 1 to Rule 40.

  71. 71.

    Wollmann et al. (2015), pp. 305–306.

  72. 72.

    Siekmann (2011), pp. 241–268.

  73. 73.

    Hafner (2012), pp. 215–238.

  74. 74.

    Oswald (2009), pp. 71–74.

  75. 75.

    Kostakopoulou and Schrauwen (2014), pp. 143–162.

  76. 76.

    Wollmann et al. (2015), pp. 305–321.

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  1. Faculty of Law, Charles University, Prague, Czech Republic

    Jan Exner

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Exner, J. (2019). Legal Status and Autonomy of International Sporting Governing Bodies and Rules Governing Sporting Nationality. In: Sporting Nationality in the Context of European Union Law. SpringerBriefs in Law. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-10807-6_2

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