SWITZERLAND Trends and Developments Contributed by: Michele Bernasconi, Emanuel Cortada and Jonáš Gürtler, Bär & Karrer
Introduction In the world of sports, Switzerland continues to be the country in which the International Olym - pic Committee (IOC), many international sports federations – including Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), Union des Asso- ciations Européennes de Football (UEFA), the International Volleyball Federation ( Fédération Internationale de Volleyball FIVB), the Interna - tional Cycling Union ( Union Cycliste Internation- ale UCI), the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) and many others – and the Court of Arbi - tration for Sport (CAS) are located. The country’s unique position continues to have a strong impact on current trends and develop - ments. A relatively recent development, namely greater involvement of the European Court of Justice (ECJ) in sports-related matters, has also had an impact on the regulations of sport gov - erning bodies, such as FIFA and UEFA, based in Switzerland. The decision of the ECJ in the case of Lassana Diarra, a player who challenged FIFA’s legal framework related to transfers, led FIFA to amend its Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP). Another particular - ly dynamic field relates to the emergence and updating of transgender or differences of sex development (DSD) rules and policies, which are regularly subject to legal challenges. This was recently on display in the run-up to the Sum - mer Olympic Games in Paris in the case of a transgender Swimmer Lia Thomas, and even at the Games themselves in the case of the boxers Imane Khelif and Lin Yu-ting. A further sports- law-specific challenge is still on-going, caused by the war in Ukraine (ie, the exclusion of Rus - sian athletes and clubs from international sports competitions). Other recent developments include an emphasis on good governance, the promotion of women in sports through govern - ing bodies and the influence of digitalisation
on the sports industry. Because of its unique position in the world of sports, many legal and regulatory developments are closely observed in Switzerland. The Importance of Swiss Law In disputes related to the policies and regulations of associations and the war in Ukraine, among other sports-related disputes (commercial, con - tractual, disciplinary, etc), Swiss law continues to play an important role. There are a number of reasons why many sports- related matters are and will continue to be gov - erned by Swiss law. Firstly, Swiss law ordinarily governs internation - al commercial contracts in the world of sports. Most contractual/commercial disputes (eg, dis - putes related to sponsorship agreements or TV rights contracts) will thus be subject to Swiss law considerations. However, Swiss law also plays a predominant role in disputes of a regulatory nature. The stat - utes and regulations of most international sports federations provide that such disputes are adju - dicated primarily based on applicable regula - tions, but with Swiss law applying on a subsidi - ary basis. This mechanism is also reflected in the procedural rules of CAS, which establish that a dispute is primarily governed by sports regula - tions and only on a subsidiary basis by state law. Regulatory Dynamics A significant regulatory change pertains to the recent revision of FIFA’s RSTP. The RSTP origi - nally emerged from negotiations between FIFA, UEFA and the European Commission in 2001. The currently ongoing revision was triggered by a highly anticipated ruling from the ECJ in the
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