BOA v WADA: Harmonisation v Self-Regulation

The area of anti-doping in sport has always been fascinating, exciting, as well as complicated and controversial. The two latter aspects have been entrenched, in case law and statutory law and the highest Court in sport, namely the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), in Lausanne, Switzerland. This court has had the opportunity to develop important principles of sports law. One of these principles is the subject matter of the present case commentary and relates to the principle of self-regulation. In other words, it examines the ability of sporting governing bodies to regulate their sport and concentrates on the legality of such self-regulation. In doing so, this case commentary will also examine the particular importance sports law jurisprudence attaches on the contractual relationship between sporting governing bodies and athletes. Such analysis should help readers understand the nature of regulation in sport, as well as the reasoning behind the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in the case under analysis.