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15 December 2022

To Speak, or not to Speak

Several national football federations and their teams had planned to wear a rainbow armband (also called the “One-Love” armband) when entering the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, which symbolizes solidarity with the LGBTQ+ community. Promptly, this simple gesture in favor of respect of human rights and diversity was forbidden by FIFA. The days following the ban, players and teams expressed their unease about FIFA’s strict position and about the uncertainty of the potential sanctions. FIFA’s practice towards freedom of expression lacks consistency, which further highlights the protection gap that exists between the lex sportiva, the rules and regulations governing sports, and human rights law in respect of freedom of expression. How could the differences be reconciled? Continue reading >>
07 June 2016

Der BGH und Pechstein: Transnationaler Konstitutionalismus sieht anders aus

Der Fall Pechstein hätte dem BGH die Möglichkeit eröffnet, die ungleichen Machtstrukturen im professionellen Sport einer effektiven und unabhängigen Kontrolle zu unterziehen und die weitreichende Macht der Sportverbände zu begrenzen. Diese Möglichkeit ließ der BGH ungenutzt verstreichen. Frau Pechstein hat bereits angekündigt, sich an das Bundesverfassungsgericht wenden zu wollen. Es steht zu erwarten, dass die verfassungsrechtliche Komponente ihres Falles dort deutlicher zur Geltung kommen wird. Continue reading >>
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10 March 2016

The Pechstein case: Transnational constitutionalism in action at the Bundesgerichtshof

Constitutional review is not anymore exclusively located where we would traditionally expect it: in national constitutional courts. Functional equivalents to constitutional review play out in various courts as a new legal game of power and counter-power shapes up for the global age. Sport, broadly speaking, is a fruitful field to study the transnationalization of law. I propose to put on constitutional lenses to analyse the current case pitching speed skater Claudia Pechstein against the International Skating Union (ISU) in front of the Bundesgerichtshof. Continue reading >>
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