Sport Disputes And Disciplinary Proceedings – Annual Review 2023/24

Welcome to the disputes and disciplinary proceedings section of the LawInSport Annual Review 2023/24. If last year's review highlighted several prominent sports law disputes to make their way to the ‘back pages’,^[1] this year has seen these disputes very much brought to the fore.  In the last twelve to fifteen months, we have witnessed several ‘heavyweight’ disputes; some involving household names of the industry, and others so landmark and unprecedented, that they challenged the structure and governance of sport as we know it today.

This chapter identifies some of the most prominent sports law disputes over the last year or so, briefly commenting on what the implications might be and what the future looks like:

• European Court of Human Rights
  • Caster Semenya
• Court of Justice of the European Union
  • European Super League (ESL)
  • International Skating Union (ISU)
  • Royal Antwerp
  • AG Szpunar’s opinion (FIFA v BZ)
• Football agents
  • FIFA Football Agent Regulations (FFAR)
  • Legal challenges across Europe
  • Current global position
• Financial sustainability in English football
  • Everton FC
  • Nottingham Forest FC
  • Leicester City FC
  • Sheffield United
  • Manchester City FC
  • A new Premier League financial control regime (‘anchoring’)?
• Ethics, disciplinary and governance
  • Football – The Rubiales ‘kiss’ case
  • Boxing – International Boxing Association’s appeal against IOC ban
  • Formula 1 – Filipe Massa’s challenge to the 2008 Championship (‘Crashgate’)
• Paris 2024
  • Selection disputes
  • IOC Rule 40 and Rule 50