Court of Arbitration for Sport to Host the Sports Law Arbitration Moot (SLAM) Grand Finals

LawInSport and the Organising Committee of the 4th Edition of the Sports Law Arbitration Moot Competition (“SLAM”) are delighted to announce the Court of Arbitration for Sport (“CAS”) as the host of the Grand Finals for the competition.

As a result of this association, the semi-finalists and finalists of SLAM will have the chance to argue their cases before CAS arbitrators in the same arbitral setting where these disputes are heard daily, at the CAS (Lausanne, Switzerland) on 22 & 23 April 2023.

SLAM is a student competition organised to promote greater knowledge of the ins and outs of international sports arbitration, the go to dispute resolution mechanism in the sector.

SLAM is open to all law students across the world, and aims to be diverse in its student and judging base. To ensure that financial obstacles do not prevent students from receiving the exposure to sports law through the competition, deserving students are provided with financial assistance for both the registration fee as well as the costs of appearing in the in-person rounds of the competition (if they advance) where there is demonstrated financial need.

In the 3rd Edition, SLAM saw:

70 teams enter from 20+ countries
40 Teams attend written submission and oral advocacy training session
30 CAS Arbitrators & 40 advocates, from 20 countries, judged the written submissions. 23 CAS arbitrators judged the oral rounds (which were all judged solely by CAS arbitrators)
The 8 teams in quarter-finals came from 6 countries

“I am so pleased that we are able to showcase up and coming talent in sports arbitration, not only before CAS arbitrators, but now in the CAS premises,” said Sean Cottrell, CEO and co-founder of LawInSport. “The support of CAS for SLAM, in providing us with access to the highest quality working venue for sports arbitration in the world, will enhance the students’ SLAM experience, making it as realistic as possible, and as a result the 2023 event should be a SLAM dunk!”

“Developing and promoting the next generation of CAS advocates and specialists through the high-quality SLAM format, in our brand new state of the art facilities, will be a stimulating experience ,” said Matthieu Reeb, CAS Director General, “I thank the SLAM organisers for putting on such a great event that promotes the cause of dispute resolution with sporting characteristics, and promotes the values of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.”

To register a team, please click here.

To register your interest as a judge for the competition, please click .

For more information on the competition, please visit here.

About SLAM

SLAM is a not-for-profit sports law moot court competition focused on arbitration of real-life sports disputes. SLAM is the only sports law moot using exclusively CAS arbitrators (including the leading CAS arbitrators) to serve as judges of the oral rounds and its hypotheticals for the competition are drawn from actual cases in doping and football disputes. SLAM has been designed to make sports arbitration more inclusive and diverse, so that no matter where you are located or your financial circumstances you will be able to participate. SLAM was founded in 2019 by SportLex - Sports Law Institute (Ljubljana, Slovenia) and has been supported by LawInSport since inception. SLAM has been a LawInSport event since 2021.

About CAS

The CAS, a Swiss institution independent of any sports organization, was created in 1984 and provides world-leading services to facilitate the settlement of sports-related disputes through arbitration or mediation by means of procedural rules adapted to the specific needs of the sports world, using knowledgeable arbitrators and mediators. The CAS has nearly 400 arbitrators from more than 90 countries, chosen for their specialist knowledge of arbitration and sports law. Around 900 cases are registered by the CAS every year.

For more information on CAS, please visit here.

About LawInSport

LawInSport is the world leading sports law knowledge hub and global community that provides practically focused expert analysis and commentary on the latest legal developments in sport. LawInSport collaborates with our community of over 30,000 lawyers, sports executives, sports administrators, athletes, coaches, academics and students and their organisations helping them to “understand the rules of the game”™

Visit LawInSport here.

December 2022, London and Lausanne

Wednesday, 07 December 2022