Sports Law and Policy in the European Union

The increasing commercialization of sport raises important questions concerning regulation. The development of the European Union and the internationalization of sporting competition has added an international dimension to this debate. Yet sport is not only a business, it is a social and cultural activity. Can regulation at the EU level reconcile this tension? Adopting a distinctive legal and political analysis, this book argues that the EU is receptive to the claim of sport for special treatment before the law. The book investigates the birth of EU sports law and policy by examining the impact of the Bosman ruling and other important European Court of Justice decisions, the relationship between sport and EU competition law, focusing particularly on the broadcasting of sport, the organization of sport and the international transfer system, and the relationship between sport and the EU Treaty, focusing in particular on the impact of the Amsterdam and Nice declarations on Sport and the significance of the Helsinki Report on Sport. This text should be of use to those interested in sports law, the politics of sport and EU integration. It offers insights into this debate and raises key questions concerning the appropriate theoretical tools for analysing European integration.