Collection of sports-related case-law / Estelle de La Rochefoucauld
I. COMPATIBILITY OF CERTAIN SPORTS REGULATIONS WITH COMMUNITY LAW 5
A. SPORTS REGULATIONS CONTAINING NATIONALITY CLAUSES AND COMMUNITY LAW 5
a) Case of Walrave v UCI (ECJ, 12.12.74, case no. C-36/74) 5
b) Case of Doña v Montero (ECJ, 14.7.76, case no. C 13-76) 6
c) Case of Markakis v ASBL Fédération Royale Belge des Sociétés de Basketball (Belgian Royal Federation of Basketball Clubs - FRBSB) (Brussels Court of First 7
Instance, Belgium, 8.9.92) 8
B. SPORTS REGULATIONS CONTAINING TRANSFER AND NATIONALITY CLAUSES AND COMMUNITY LAW 9
a) Case of Bosman v Royal Club Liégeois SA and UEFA (ECJ, 15.12.95, case no. C-415/93) 9
b) Case of Lehtonen v Fédération Royale Belge des Sociétés de Basket-ball (Belgian Royal Federation of Basketball Clubs - FRBSB) (ECJ, 11.4.00, case no. C-176/96) 11
c) Case of Grubba v German Table Tennis Federation (Frankfurt am Main Appeal Court, Germany, 25 November 1997, case no. 2-14 0 254/97) 13
C. SPORTS REGULATIONS PROVIDING FOR NATIONAL QUOTAS AND SELECTION PROCEDURES FOR PARTICIPATION IN INTERNATIONAL TOURNAMENTS 15
a) Case of Deliège v Ligue francophone de judo (Francophone Judo League), Ligue belge de judo (Belgian Judo League), Union européenne de judo (European Judo Union), (ECJ 11.4.00, joined cases C-51/96 and C-191/97) 15
D. SUMMARY OF SPORTS-RELATED EUROPEAN REGULATIONS 16
II. COMPATIBILITY OF DRUG TESTING WITH THE RIGHT TO PRIVACY 18
a) Case of Hill v National Collegiate Athletic Association, Board of Trustees of Leland Stanford Junior University (Court of Appeal of California, USA, 25 September 1990) 18
b) Case of Miller v Cave City School (United States Court of Appeals (8th circuit), 31 March 1999) 19
III. DOPING 22
A. PROOF OF DOPING 22
a) Case of USA Triathlon v Spencer Smith (Court of Arbitration for Sport, Lausanne, 31.5.00) 22
b) Case Z. v. DFB (German Football Federation), DFB sports tribunal, 1999 23
c). Case of Dieter Baumann v. International Olympic Committee (IOC), National Olympic Committee of Germany and International Amateur Athletics Federation (IAAF), CAS, 22 september 2000 25
B. VALIDITY OF SPORTS FEDERATION RULES IN DOPING CASES AND THEIR COMPATIBILITY WITH COMMUNITY LAW 28
a) Case of Wilander and Novacek v Tobin and Jude (Court of Appeal of England and Wales, Civil Division, 20 December 1996) 28
C. JURISDICTION OF A CIVIL COURT TO ORDER A PRIVATE SPORTS ORGANIZATION TO STRIP A CHAMPION OF HIS TITLE 30
a) Case of Schulz v United States Boxing Association, IBF, Botha, Moorer (United States Court of Appeals (3rd circuit), 24 January 1997) 30
D. VALIDITY OF DOPING SANCTIONS 32
a) Case of Katrin Zimmerman Krabbe v Deutscher Leichtathletik Verband (DLV) and International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) (Munich Court of Appeal, Germany, 28 March 1996) 32
b) Case of Edwards v The British Athletic Federation (High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, United Kingdom, 23.6.97) 34
c) Case of Bouras v IJF (Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) Lausanne, 20.12.99, CAS 99/A/230).. 35
d) Case of Johnson v Athletics Canada and IAAF (Ontario Court of Justice, Canada, 25.7.97)......... 37
e) Case of Vincent Guérin v FFF (Versailles Administrative Court, France, 2 July 1998).................. 38
f) Case of David Meca-Medina v FINA and Igor Majcen v FINA (Court of Arbitration for Sport, Lausanne, 29 February 2000, CAS 99/A/234 and CAS 99/A/235) 39
IV. INTERPRETATION OF SPORTS RULES 40
A. POSSIBILITY FOR AN ATHLETE TO BRING AN ACTION BEFORE A CIVIL COURT ON THE BASIS OF A FEDERAL LAW 40
Elr, Recueil JP 01.02 3
a) Case of Michels v USOC (United States Court of Appeals - 7th circuit, 16 August 1984) 40
B. JURISDICTION TO INTERPRET A FEDERATION'S RULES OF PROCEDURE IN DOPING CASES 41
a) Case of Smith v International Triathlon Union (Supreme Court of British Colombia, Vancouver, Canada, 26 August 1999) 41
b) Delisa Walton-Floyd v The United States Olympic Committee (Court of Appeals of Texas, 1st district, Houston, USA, 26 February 1998) 43
C. INTERPRETATION OF THE RULES OF AN INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION 45
a) Case of Korda v International Tennis Federation (ITF Ltd) (High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, United Kingdom, 29.1.99) 45
b) Case of ITF Ltd v Korda (Court of Appeals (Civil Division), United Kingdom, 25.3.99) 45
c) Case of ITF v Korda (CAS, Lausanne, 31 August 1999, CAS 99/223/A) 45
V. CONTRACTS 48
A. EMPLOYMENT CONTRACTS 48
a) Case of Loranger v Mount Allison University (New Brunswick Court of Queen's Bench, Trial Division, Judicial District of Moncton, Canada, 9-10 November 1998) 48
b) Case of Tanguay v Association Chamonix Mont-Blanc, (Court of Cassation, Social Chamber, France, 23 January 1997) 49
c) Case of Bill Belichick v New York Jets (District Court, USA, 25.1.00) 50
B. CONTRACTS ON BROADCASTING RIGHTS FOR SPORTS COMPETITIONS 52
a) Case of EBU (European Broadcasting Union) v SA Canal + (Paris Court of Appeal, 1st chamber, section A, France, 27 July 2000) 52
VI. RESTRAINT OF TRADE 55
a) Case of Newport Association Football Club Ltd and others v Football Association of Wales Ltd (High Court of Justice, Chancery Division, United Kingdom, 12.4.95) 55
b) Case of the German Football Federation (DFB) v German Federal Cartel Office (German Federal
Supreme Court, 11.12.97) 56
VII. DISCRIMINATION IN SPORT 59
A. GENDER-BASED DISCRIMINATION 59
a) Case of Kemether v Pennsylvania Interscholastic Athletic Association Inc. (United States District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania, 8 November 1999) 59
b) Case before the Châlons en Champagne Administrative Court, France (28 January 1999, cases 98-711 and 98-1034) 61
B. OTHER FORMS OF DISCRIMINATION 62
a) Case of Olympique de Marseille (OM) v Union des Associations Européennes de Football (UEFA) (Berne Civil Court III, Switzerland, 9 September 1993) 62
VIII. RESPONSIBILITY OF A FEDERATION TOWARDS AN ATHLETE 64
A. CONTRACTUAL RESPONSIBILITY OF A FEDERATION TOWARDS AN ATHLETE 64
a) Case of E.L. v Fédération Française de Gymnastique (French Gymnastics Federation - FFG) (Paris High Court, 1st chamber, 2nd section, France, 1 July 1999) 64
B. FEDERATION'S LIABILITY FOR NEGLIGENCE IN RESPECT OF AN ATHLETE 65
a) Case of Michael Watson v British Boxing Board of Control Limited (BBBC) (High Court of Justice, United Kingdom, 2000) 65
b) Case of Agar v Hyde and Agar v Worsley, High Court of Australia (HCA), 3.8.00 67
IX. STATUS OF REFEREES 69
A. STATUS OF REFEREES IN THE EVENT OF A FAULT 69
a) . Case Ancion v. ASBL Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association (URBSFA), Brussels Labour Court (Interim Relief Division), Belgium, 20 April 2000 69
b) . Case Lyra v. Marchand, Rita Berlaar and ASBL Union Royale Belge des Sociétés de Football Association (URBSFA), Malines Court of First Instance (Belgium), 8 February 2001 71
X. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN SPORT 73
A. COPYRIGHT 73
a) Case of National Basketball Association (NBA) v Motorola and STATS (New York Second Circuit Court of Appeals, USA, 480 US 941 (1987)) 73
B. TRADE MARK OWNERSHIP 75
a) Case of National Football League v Coors Brewing Co. (99 Civ. 4627 at 496, SDNY, 4 August 1999) 75
XI. MAIN PROVISIONS QUOTED 77
A. TREATIES, LAWS AND RULES 77
a) EEC Treaty 77
b) Council of Europe Anti-Doping Convention of 16 November 1989 79
c) French Act no. 89-432 of 28 June 1989 on prevention and repression of the use of doping products in sport: 80
d) French Decree no.91-387 of 30 August 1991, Article 6: 81
e) Section 1636 of the French Civil Code 81
f) Amateur Sports Act 36 USC Sec. 382b 82
g) Constitution of the United States of America 82
B. SPORTS REGULATIONS 82
b) Rules of the International Amateur Athletic Federation (IAAF) 2000-2001, Rule 60: Sanctions: 83
c) International Tennis Federation (ITF) Anti-Doping Programme - 1999: 83
