Areas of
Sports Law

The World Anti-Doping Code sets the global standard, implemented through national anti-doping organisations and sports federations. It establishes the prohibited list, testing obligations, the strict liability principle, and a graduated sanctions regime enforced primarily through CAS.

Sports federations exercise significant self-regulatory authority, but that autonomy is not unlimited. This area covers challenges to governance decisions before CAS, domestic courts, and the CJEU — including election disputes, suspension of members, and accountability reforms.

From FIFA's Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players to national employment law, this area examines fixed-term contracts, just cause termination, training compensation, solidarity contributions, and the growing regulatory treatment of players' agents.

Commercial agreements are the lifeblood of professional sport. This area covers the drafting and enforcement of sponsorship and kit deals, ambush marketing battles, image rights exploitation, and the emerging legal questions around athlete NFTs and digital assets.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport is the apex body for international sports disputes, but national tribunals and federation chambers handle the vast majority of cases. This area examines jurisdictional questions, procedural rules, the enforceability of awards, and Swiss Federal Tribunal review.

Integrity breaches increasingly attract both sporting sanctions and criminal prosecution. This area considers the legislative frameworks targeting match-fixing and bribery in sport, the role of betting intelligence, and how sports tribunals coordinate with — or are pre-empted by — criminal justice proceedings.