International and Comparative Sports Law

 This course will examine sports law in an international and comparative context.  We will study the ways in which public, quasi-public, and private regulation have interacted, often ineffectively and in tension with each other, in the global sports arena – such as in the integrity of competitions, the protection of athletes, and the commercialization of sports – and consider the reforms that have been instituted or proposed to address these issues.  While we will encounter many sports and legal environments in our inquiry, our primary vehicles for studying the subject will be the Olympics, FIFA and soccer generally, and cases raised in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Switzerland. Course Specific Learning Outcomes

Be able to explore and better understand the legal framework under which sports operates in the international context and to learn methods for how to (1) apply that framework in individual cases and (2) evaluate and critique the policies underlying that framework as well as to consider the pros and cons of alternative policies and frameworks.