Judicial Intervention and Sporting Autonomy. Defining the Territories of European Union Involvement in Sport,

This article posits the development of a discrete academic discipline that one may properly call ‘sports law’, located in the jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice and concerning the application of EU law principles including freedom of movement, competition law and telecommunications law to the sporting firmament. It charts the discussions concerning the place of sport under the Treaty of Rome, culminating in an element of ‘special status’ being conferred upon sport without the legal status on which the EU is based being compromised as a consequence. The author suggests that the year 2004, which heralds the intergovemmental conference and the European Year of Education Through Sport as well as the staging of major international sporting events by EU member states, will lead to new policy initiatives concerning the status of sport within the European Union.