The Legal Research Society

The EU Observer reports that FIFA President Sepp Blatter is set to push through an agreement that will cap the number of foreign nationals that are allowed to play for football clubs. Blatter’s initiative flies in the face of the ECJ’s Bosman ruling in which the Luxembourg Court declared that Article 39 of the EC Treaty, concerning the free movement of workers in the Community, ‘precludes the application of rules laid down by sporting associations under which, in matches in competitions which they organize, football clubs may field only a limited number of professional players who are nationals of other Member States.’ UEFA, the European football association, has proposed an alternative approach, namely that there will be quotas for locally trained players without discrimination on the basis of nationality. Blatter’s response is that this would expose young foreign players to exploitation. So does Blatter have a leg to stand on or is his proposal doomed to failure? And, more importa...

Not much is usually written about international sports law, however, last months have been immensely rich in controversial cases from the many diffrent sports. It is also international football that has witnessed several troublesome developments in past weeks. Many of these developments concern recent decisions by regional and international football bodies. This post examines recent decision delivered by FIFA concerning prohibition of international footbal matches at high altitude. Let us explain firstly what FIFA is? The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) is an association governed by Swiss law founded in 1904 and based in Zurich. It has 208 member football associations and its goal, enshrined in its Statutes, is the constant improvement of football. It is composed of a Congress,Executive Committee, General Secretariat and committees. Some days ago FIFA delivered a decision prohibiting on international football matches being played at venues above altitudes o...