Sport&EU Workshop: The EU and the Governance of Sport, Policy and Perspectives. University of Chester, 6-7 July 2007

The Department of Sport and Exercise Sciences and the Chester Centre for Research into Sport and Society at the University of Chester hosted the second annual workshop of the Association for the Study of Sport and the European Union (Sport&EU) entitled 'The EU and the governance of sport: policy and perspectives'. The event was organised and sponsored jointly by the Centre for the Study of International Governance (CSIG) at Loughborough University, Sport&EU and the University of Chester. The workshop had a truly international flavour, bringing together 20 academics and practitioners from six different European countries with the aim of assessing the role and possible contribution of the European Union to the governance of sport. The timing of the debate could not have been better, as four days after the workshop the European Commission adopted its White Paper on Sport, which features a full section (almost one third of the document) dedicated to governance issues. The CSIG and Sport&EU were pleased to welcome Alex Phillips, Head of Professional Football Services at UEFA, as guest speaker. Alex Phillips presented himself as a 'first and foremost a football person who is worried for the future of the game'. In his opening speech, he launched the debate by explaining UEFA's perspective on a democratic and transparent governance structure for European football. Alex Phillips stressed that governing bodies have a duty of care for all levels of sport, not only the professional side. He did also recognise the responsibility of these bodies to ensure proper representation and consultation among stakeholders. The workshop was mainly dominated by two themes: the application of EU law to sport and the dilemmas of sport governance and sport policy in a global and commercial environment. In the legal department, Alfonso Rincon (CEU-San Pablo University, Spain) drew the delegate's attention to the contradictions of the European Court of Justice in the handling of sport related cases. Rincon analysed the extent to which the so-called sporting exception could be recognised in the case law of the Court. He did also argue that several u-turns of the Court in this respect might have had negative consequences for public authorities and sport governing bodies due to a lack of clarity in the criteria guiding the application of European law to the sports sector. Alexandre Mestre (PLMJ law firm, Portugal), on the other hand, focused on the application of Competition policy to sport, advocating for clearer guidelines that could facilitate governing bodies' regulation of sport. The extent up to which the EU can help to raise governance standards in sport focused much of the delegates' attention. Roberto Branco Martins (ASSER Institute, The Netherlands) explored the possibilities of collective bargaining between the employers and employees in the football sector under the umbrella of the European Commission. He suggested that the Social Dialogue could deal with issues such as the transfer system, match calendar, nationality quotas or player release for national team duty. The debates identified two problems for the Social Dialogue to work effectively. First, the representativeness of the social partners, especially in the employers' side (who represents the employers? Is it clubs, leagues, federations?). Second, the extent to which social dialogue could be used to regulate on issues beyond its remit without giving due consideration to third parties (e.g. doping regulations, match calendar or release of players to national teams). It was evident in the discussions that the study of sport and sport policy in the European Union needs to deal necessarily with a multiplicity of actors and venues. …