EU sport players: their nationality, their freedom of movement, their freedom of expression

This article is based on the contribution made at a conference held in Liège (Belgium) on 4 May 2015 on “Le droit du sport; Dopage et droits fondamentaux – Sport et droit de l'Union”. Views expressed are purely personal to the authors

Introduction

“Rules of purely sporting interest”, “specificity of sport”, “preserving the autonomy of sporting federations”, and so on, are some of the many arguments often used by sporting associations to challenge the application of European Union (EU) laws to sporting activities, as it is commonly acknowledged today that they can no longer oppose any “sporting exemption” to escape from it.

Be that as it may, EU Law has greatly contributed in shaping the way European sports are played today, from cases such as Walrave and Bosman to the insertion of Article 165 in the Treaty...

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