In a fresh and original account, Lloyd Freeburn challenges the conventional conception of contracts as the consent-based legal foundation of international sports law. The prevailing legal orthodoxy is shown to be untenable, failing to explain or justify international sports governing bodies’ regulatory power or their control over the livelihoods and liberty of participants in sport. The non-consensual jurisdiction of the Court of Arbitration for Sport is similarly tainted. But this significant challenge is not made simply to undermine international sport’s regulatory regime. A sound legal foundation for regulatory authority in sport is both desirable and necessary. Consequently, effective reform is urgently required to support the regime’s legality and to give it legitimacy by resolving the regime’s democratic deficit.

Stephen F. Ross presents this succinct introduction to key topics of law specific to sports, comparing approaches to sports law across the globe, with particular focus on the United States, Europe, and common law jurisdictions. Contrasting the profit-maximizing approach of North American leagues with the global integrated approach of professional sports governed by national and international governing boards, the book offers a novel model for the latter.

I am honoured to have been invited to write the foreword to this book. Since the publi- tion of Professional Sport in the EU: Regulation and Re-regulation (edited by Andrew Caiger and Simon Gardiner, T.M.C. Asser Press 2000), there have been a number of dev- opments in the European Union in sports law, both in the European Commission and the European Court of Justice. The most significant of these was probably the adoption by the Commission of the White Paper on Sport on 11 July 2007. The White Paper takes stock of the acquis communautaire – the rather prodigious body of European Law including judgements and preliminary rulings of the ECJ – in the sports field and sets out the position of the Commission on three significant aspects of European sport: its societal role, its economic dimension, and its governance. The White Paper also contains concrete proposals for further EU action as part of an Action Plan named after Pierre de Coubertin, the founder of the modern Olympic Games.

Given the impact that successive court rulings have had on the organisation of the sports movement in the past 15 years, the autonomy of non-governmental sports organisations has become a highly topical concern in Europe. It is also closely related to the issue of governance, the subject of previous Council of Europe studies. The Enlarged Partial Agreement on Sport (EPAS) decided to explore the concept of autonomy in greater depth by studying the conceptual, political, legal, economic and psycho-sociological aspects of the subject. This study was carried out at the request of the EPAS by the Swiss Graduate School of Public Administration (IDHEAP) on the basis of a questionnaire sent to public authorities in charge of sport and to national and international umbrella sports organisations. In addition to an analysis of the data obtained, documents produced by public authorities and sports organisations on this emerging issue are presented. This study contributes to a better understanding of the concept of autonomy and offers a clear picture of the issues involved.

Previous edition, 1st, published in 1988.

The Oxford Handbook of American Sports Law is a timely and engaging compilation of commentaries by leading experts on the most significant issues in US sports law. The book blends analysis of historical and contemporary controversies with prescriptions for how courts and lawmakers can reconcile the competing interests of leagues, owners, and players. The Handbook also establishes a foundation for future research on sports law issues. As technology and social media alter the ways fans, athletes, and team officials interact, legal doctrine will be challenged to adapt, and the Handbook both forecasts these debates and outlines where the law may be headed.

Long established as the market leading textbook on sports law, this much-anticipated new edition offers a comprehensive and authoritative examination of the legal issues surrounding and governing sport internationally. Locating the legal regulation of sport within an explicit socio-economic context, this refocused edition is divided into four core parts: Governance & Sport; Commercial Regulation; Sports Workplace; and Safety in Sport. Recent developments covered in this edition include: EU competition law interaction with sport under arts. 101 and 102 of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union; the current World Anti-Doping Agency code; analysis of the recent Court of Arbitration for Sport Jurisprudence; reforms of the transfer system in team sports; anti-discrimination provisions in sport; engagement with match fixing; a focus on the legal context of 2012 London Olympics. Essential reading for students studying sports law or sports-related courses, this textbook will also prove useful to sports law practitioners and sports administrators in need of a clear companion to the field.