EL SINTAGMA DETERMINANTE 1 Introducción
2. El Sintagma Determinante Hipótesis y algunos análisis
2.2. El Sintagma Determinante en el Programa Minimista
2.2.1. El Léxico y la Numeración
Lex Sportiva: What is Sports Law? Robert C R Siekmann & Janwillem Soek Editors 2012 TMC Asser Press The Hague The Netherlands Hardback Pages 391 + XIX ISBN 978-90-6704-826-6 Price €147,65
This Book deals with a subject close to the heart of your reviewer, hav- ing been a pioneer of Sports Law, both as a practitioner and an academ- ic, for more than twenty-five years. Is there such a thing as Sports Law - a kind of ‘Lex Sportiva’ - as a discrete/distinct body of Law? And, if so, what is it and which criteria should be used to identify it?
This is a vexed and continuing question and divides academics and practitioners alike. Certainly sport is important - this is not only recog- nised by the European Union in the so-called Sport Article 165 of the Lisbon Treaty, but also by the fact that sport is big business globally. As such, there is an important interface between Sport and the Law and the different ways in which they influence and engage with one anoth- er. In other words, there are more and more contentious and non-con- tentious issues all the time which fall to be determined by the Law around
the world. This phenomenon presents an on-going and fascinating chal- lenge to general and sports lawyers alike.
The Book brings together contributions from a variety of authors from a variety of countries and also includes extended Papers present- ed at the 2010 Djakarta Conference on ‘The Concept of Lex Sportiva Revisited’ organised, amongst other bodies, by the Indonesia Lex Sportiva Instituta, whose Executive Director, Hinca I Pandjaitan, has written the Foreword to this Book, which he describes as “timely” and with which your reviewer would entirely agree!
Amongst the distinguished contributors to the Book are Ken Foster, of the Centre for Law, Society and Popular Culture of the University of Westminster, UK, who is widely considered to have coined the term ‘Lex Sportiva’; Professor James Nafziger, the Honorary President of the International Association of Sports Law; and Professor Stephen Weatherill of Oxford University, UK, an acknowledged expert on Sport and EU Law.
The Book ends with the text of the Inaugural Lecture of Professor
‘Cas and Football: Landmark Cases’ Alexander Wild (Editor) 2012 TMC Asser Press The Hague The Netherlands Hardback Pages 272 + XIII ISBN 978-90-6704-807-1 Price: €105, 45
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has established itself during its twenty-years of operations, which began in 1984, as its founders intended, as the ‘Supreme Court of World Sport’. The CAS is based in Lausanne, Switzerland, and is the final Court of Appeal for almost all the International Sports Federations and also in doping cases pursuant to the provisions of the World Anti-Doping Agency Code. Its impor- tance in the international sporting world, therefore, cannot be over stat- ed. The CAS also deals with commercial disputes relating to sport, for example, disputes arising under sponsorship and merchandising agree- ments, especially those with an international dimension.
Football is not only the world’s favourite sport; it is also the world’s most lucrative one. The FIFA World Cup, which was last held in 2010 in South Africa, was, despite all the fears about security, highly success- ful. In fact, FIFA made a profit of US$ 1.1 billion from the event!
It is interesting to note that FIFA, the World Governing Body of Football, only became a member of the CAS in 2002, but since then the workload of the CAS has increased exponentially each year (aver- aging now around 300 cases a year), due, in no small measure, to the number of football-related disputes being referred to the CAS as the final Court of Appeal in football cases. In fact, a special division of CAS Arbitrators, who are specialised in football legal matters, has been cre- ated to deal with these appeal cases, many of which relate to disputes under the FIFA Status of Players and Transfer Regulations. Many of these disputes involve millions of dollars in respect of the fees paid for the international transfer of players from one country club to another.
Not only is the CAS, through its cases, establishing a kind of ‘Lex Sportiva’ - a discrete body of Sports Law - in relation to sports disputes in general, but also in relation to football disputes in particular, despite the fact that CAS is not required to follow a ‘stare decisis’ principle - the doctrine of binding judicial precedent so beloved of Common Law juris- dictions. In other words, CAS Panels, who decide disputes brought before it, are not required to follow the decisions (known as ‘Awards’, CAS being an Arbitral Body) of previous Panels in similar cases. However, in practice, Panels do tend to follow earlier decisions as a mat- ter of ‘comity’ and in the interests of legal certainty.
This Book - another first in the highly successful Asser International Sports Law Series (established by Professor Rob Siekmann) - is a wel- come addition to the sports law literature, and Alexander Wild, the Editor, who is a practising Attorney in Stuttgart, Germany, and a for- mer Research Fellow of the Asser International Sports Law Centre in The Hague, the so-called ‘Legal Capital’ of the World, is not only to be congratulated on conceiving the idea for such a work, but also on exe- cuting it so professionally.
This slim volume (in fact, a case of multum in parvo) is a veritable mine of useful information on leading CAS cases in the football field. The Book covers such matters as club ownership, including the famous ENIC (English National Investment Company) unsuccessful legal chal- lenge against the UEFA rules limiting the common ownership of clubs playing in UEFA competitions as being anti-competitive in an econom- ic sense (subsequently, the European Commission, advised by the Competition Directorate) came to the same conclusion as the CAS Advisory Opinion that these rules, which were, of course, restrictive in nature and effect) were justified on sporting competition grounds and not unduly restrictive - truly, therefore, a landmark CAS case); players’ contracts, especially their breach, including the Andrew Webster case and the subsequent Matuzalem case on anticipatory breach and the quantum of damages payable as a result, and also the validity of unilat- eral options, which, to the surprise of many lawyers, were upheld in the Panathinaikos case on the particular facts and in the particular circum- stances, the CAS finding that there was a contractual balance between the club and the player; football hooliganism (the so-called ‘English Disease’); match fixing (the current concern of FIFA); and, of course, doping cases, the scourge of all sports and, which like the poor, are always, sadly, with us.
In relation to doping, the Book deals, amongst others, with the issue of whether a sanction should be imposed on an entire team, where one of its members is found guilty of a doping offence. This matter arose in the case of the Football Association of Wales v UEFA, and the CAS did not, in fact, impose any penalty on the entire team involved. The case concerned the Welsh and Russian teams in Euro 2004, in which a mem- ber of the Russian team tested positive and the Welsh team cried foul when they were knocked out of the Competition, claiming that the Russian team, through the use of performance enhancing drugs taken by one of their players, had gained an unfair sporting advantage and that the whole team should, therefore, be sanctioned and disqualified from the Competition and the Welsh team allowed to go further in the Competition.
All the contributors to this Book, including the Editor, are special- ists in football-related sports disputes, and this gives the Book a certain authority and cachet.
In fact, the Book is one that your reviewer, despite contributing the Introductory Remarks, can, without any shred of bias on his part, whole- heartedly recommend; and one, therefore, that should, I would submit, be on the book shelves of every self-respecting sports lawyer, whether interested or involved in football or not! Remember, the legendary man- ager of Liverpool Football Club, Bill Shankly, when, on one occasion, was asked whether football was a matter of life and death, replied: “oh no, it’s much more important than that!”
Professor Ian Blackshaw International Sports Lawyer And Member Of Cas
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Robert Siekmann, entitled ‘What is Sports Law? A Reassessment of Content and Terminolgy, which he delivered on 10 June, 2011, on accept- ing the newly-established Chair of International and European Sports Law of the Erasmus University of Rotterdam, The Netherlands. In this Lecture, he concludes that “sports law exists!” and goes on to nuance its public and private nature.
This Book is another first in its field for the highly acclaimed Asser International Sports Law Series and one which your reviewer can unre- servedly recommend to all those involved in any way with Sport and its interaction with the Law; that is, nailing my colours firmly to the mast: Sports Law!
Professor Ian Blackshaw
‘Sports Betting: Law and Policy’ Paul M Anderson Ian S Blackshaw Robert C R Siekmann and Janwillem Soek (Editors) 2012 TMC Asser Press The Hague The Netherlands Hardback Pages 1029 + XV ISBN 978-90-6704-798-2 Price: €210, 95
This Book is another first for the highly successful Asser International Sports Law Series (established and developed by Professor Rob Siekmann, who is also one of the Editors of the Book) and deals with the controversial and important subject of Sports Betting. Indeed, the Asser Press are to be warmly congratulated on publishing this Book.
Betting and sport have been uneasy bedfellows since the dawn of time. Gambling is now a significant global industry, which is worth around 0.6% of world trade - that is, around US$ 384 billion! In fact, certain sports, such as Horseracing, rely on betting in a sporting and also a financial sense for their popularity and survival.
Betting on the outcome of sporting events is a very popular pastime and well-established in the human psyche; but, like any other human activity, sports betting is open to corruption and improper influence from unscrupulous sports persons, bookmakers and others who are out
to make a quick buck - improperly and unfairly. Take, for example, the recent ‘spot fixing’ case in the Fourth Cricket Test Match between England and Pakistan at Lord’s, which involved balling no balls at pre- determined times during the Match and betting on them, and which resulted in jail terms for those involved! And rightly so, since who wants to watch a sports event, whose outcome is predetermined, or to use the jargon ‘fixed’. That is just not cricket, to use an English colloquialism, and undermines the integrity of sport!
This Book deals - quite extensively and impressively - with the reg- ulation of sports betting in 45 countries around the world, ranging from Argentina to the United States of America. All the contributors are spe- cialists in this particular field of sports law, which makes the Book quite authoritative and well worth its price tag.
This veritable tome is a very welcome addition to the sports law lit- erature and one that will, I am quite sure, prove to be an invaluable resource to all those concerned with sports betting in various capacities, including professional adviser and those who are involved in the organ- isation and administration of National Lottery Schemes, which provide significant financial benefits for sport as a ‘good cause’!
Professor Ian Blackshaw International Sports Lawyer
editorial board
Karen L. Jones (editor), Simon Gardiner, Andrew Caiger, Jim Gray, Andy Gibson, Frank Hendrickx, Richard Parrish, Klaus Vieweg, Alexander Wild, Andre Louw, Ian Blackshaw (contributing editor)
advisory board
Paul Anderson, Gerard Auneau, John Barnes, Roger Blanpain, Rian Cloete, Lucio Colantuoni, Pierre Collomb, Michele Colucci, Steve Cornelius, Guo Shuli, Hazel Hartley, Deborah Healey, Huan Shixi, Amaresh Kumar, Franck Latty, Johnny Maeschalck, Luiz Roberto Martins Castro, Boris Kolev, Michel Marmayou, Jose Meirim, Alexandre Mestre, Jim Nafziger, Andreas Nemes, John O’Leary, Hayden Opie, Dimitrios Panagiotopoulos, Hinca Pandjaitan, Marios Papaloukas, Mikhail Prokopets, Luis Relogio, Gary Rice, Gary Roberts, Denis Rogachev, Ben Van Rompuy, Rochelle le Roux, Martin Schimke, Shixi Huang, Luc Silance, Gerald Simon, Paul Singh, Heiko van Staveren, Andrzej Szwarc, Christoph Vedder, Eric Vilé, Dan Visoiu, Alex Voicu, Wang Xiaoping, Stephen Weatherill
general editor / publishing office islj
Asser International Sports Law Centre
c/o T.M.C. Asser Instituut
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P.O. Box 30461 2500 GL The Hague Tel.: +31-(0)70-3420300 Fax: +31-(0)70-3420359 E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.sportslaw.nl printed by Hooiberg | Haasbeek P.O. Box 41 7940 AA Meppel
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