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Special thanks to our friends @fairsq.bsky.social who have kindly helped disseminate the proposal: fairsq.org/new-proposal...

Enforcement will follow a dual structure: new EU Sports Agency + national sports authorities. Violations will trigger fines and penalty payments. For systematic violations of good governance or human rights rules, a ban on organising or participating in sporting competitions can be imposed.

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Sports organisations must do more to promote gender equality: ‒ increase participation of + build infrastructure for female athletes ‒ create pathway to equal pay ‒ adopt maternity policy with min. 14 weeks paid leave ‒ contribute to closing the gender gap in health research.

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Protecting and nurturing athletes should be a priority in sports – but is often not. We propose that sports organisations have a legal obligation to adopt a safeguarding policy, establish or recognise a body monitoring compliance with it, and give athletes adequate health and mental health support.

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Federations can subject new competitions to prior authorisation and protect sporting merit and openness. But the criteria must be clear, transparent and non-discriminatory. We follow the Superleague case law, but require that key stakeholders – clubs, fans, athletes – be consulted before deciding.

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Sport plays an important social role – but with power comes responsibility. We propose human rights and environmental due diligence requirements similar to those in the CSDD Directive. In addition, sports organisations must make human rights a substantial factor when evaluating bids to host events.

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This includes term limits for board members and executive directors, transparency duties for important financial information, and representation requirements: ‒ 40% of board positions held by women ‒ Athletes have min. 1 rep with voting rights ‒ Fans have min. 1 rep with voting rights.

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What do we suggest? Minimum regulatory standards for sports governing bodies and competition organisers. Good governance is at the heart our proposal. None of the problems in sport will be solved without it. We propose four principles: democracy, representation, transparency and accountability.

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Why do we need an EU Sports Act? Many sports organisations are poorly run. States struggle with regulating federations for fear of reprisals. International rules are difficult to agree on. The EU offers something unique: the possibility of transnational regulation and effective enforcement.

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Our proposal for a European Sports Act! Sport needs reforming and the EU, so we believe, can effect positive change. We propose EU rules on good governance, social responsibility, human rights, plus better safeguards for athletes and fans. A short thread breaking down the key elements.

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Michal Ovádek @movadek.bsky.social · 24/04/2025

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Reposted by Jan Zglinski

we wrote this with doctoral students in law in Europe in mind. My impression is many of them are methodologically lost. We hope that the expert coding lens and framework can help at least some of them out

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Jan Zglinski @janzglinski.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

How much authority does CAS deserve, how much does it need? Intriguing proposal by @antoineduval.bsky.social to apply the old German 'Solange' doctrine to sports arbitration. 👇

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Reposted by Jan Zglinski

Antoine Duval @antoineduval.bsky.social · 16/01/2025

#Sportslaw breaking! AG Capeta from the #CJEU concludes in her Opinion under the #Seraing case that #CAS awards ought to be subjected to full review (all of EU law, not limited to EU public policy) by national courts to ensure effectiveness of #EULaw. #Arbitration

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Reposted by Jan Zglinski

Michael McCann @mccannsportslaw.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

It's taken a long time, and NASL hasn't played a season since 2017, but the league's antitrust case against U.S. Soccer and MLS finally heads to trial this week. The key question: does U.S. Soccer have too much control over the market for pro soccer? I tackle that in a @sportico.bsky.social article:

sportico.com

U.S. Soccer, MLS and NASL Head to Long-Awaited Antitrust Trial

It's taken a while, but NASL's antitrust case against U.S. Soccer and MLS heads to trial this week in a case featuring high profile sports attorneys.

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Jan Zglinski @janzglinski.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

More sports antitrust - this time from the US. Have the national federation (US Soccer) and existing top league (MLS) kept a competitor (NASL) out?

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Jan Zglinski @janzglinski.bsky.social · 06/01/2025

Far from impossible. Ever since the threat of a Super League first appeared in the 1990s, UEFA has tried to placate the big clubs by reforming the Champions League: more guaranteed matches, spots, revenue etc.

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Thanks, Niall - much appreciated!

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Together with the other benefits outlined by Unify (free streaming, more solidarity payments etc.), this could become a headache for UEFA.

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The problem here is: the teams making it through the later stages of UEFA’s own Champions League also increasingly come from the big 5 leagues. This isn’t great for European representation and competitive balance either.

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Strategy 2: UEFA can try to argue that the Unify League violates some substantive criteria. For example: it is likely that only teams from the top 6 domestic leagues will play in the top tier (Star League). Doesn’t sound great for European representation and competitive balance.

UEFA can, of course, pretend its rules are fine and wait to be challenged in a new court case. But this is risky: if a judge would find the provision to be unlawful, Unify might have a claim for damages. A lot of money at stake.

Strategy 1: it can say that the Unify League ‘adversely affects the good functioning’ of the Champions League as clubs meant to play in the latter might join the former. This, however, breaches EU law... and the Unify people know it.

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So now UEFA will have to decide, based on these Rules, whether to allow the Unify League. It, of course, wants to reject the request. But how?

UEFA, too, has learned some lessons. It updated its Authorisation Rules for club competitions after the European Court’s ruling. The problem is: these still violate EU law. See my earlier thread on the other platform 👇 x.com/JanZglinski/...

x.com

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Unify promises a competition for 96 teams, from 55 domestic leagues across Europe, free streaming for fans, more solidarity payments, and greater support for women’s football. These are all relevant benefits from a competition law perspective.

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A22 has learned its (legal) lesson. The initial Superleague idea blatantly violated EU law by establishing a ‘closed shop’ for elite teams. The second proposal from 2023 had promotion and relegation for more teams, but was still far off the mark. The Unify League builds on that.

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Let’s rewind: in 2023 the Court said that FIFA and UEFA cannot categorically block new football competitions. But it also said that any new competition must be compatible with the European Sports Model, i.e. protect sporting merit, solidarity, be open to clubs across Europe...

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