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860
InternationalSportsLaw
New York:Transnational
Publishers,
By JamesA.R. Nafziger.Dobbs Ferry,
Inc., 1988, pp. xiv,250, $45.00.
trendtowards
The increasing
ofsportscorrelates
witha worldwide
importance
and
internationalization,
commercialization,
politicization.
professionalization,
Sportsare no longera purelyprivatematter.To the contrary,
sportsare an
essentialpartofpubliclife.The subjectsofsportslawareas variedas thesportsrelatedproblemsthatmayarise. Issues rangefromtraditional
areas,like daminparticular
trends,
ages,tonewareasthatevolvebecauseoftheaforementioned
thetrendof internationalization.
JamesA.R. Nafziger,well-known
authorin thefieldof international
sports
betweenlaw and international
to therelationship
law,pays attention
sportsactivities.International
sportslaw is quitea new fieldof law.1
1. See, e.g., Die Einbindung Nationalen Sportrechts in Internationale Bezge (D. Reuter ed. 1987); Sport und Recht in Europa (M. Will ed. 1988); Auf dem Wege zu Einem EuroVOL. 24, NO. 3
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BOOK REVIEWS
861
"
Nafzigerdefinestheterm international
sportslaw" as a moreor less distinctivebodyof rules,principles,and proceduresthatgovernthepoliticaland
He takestheviewthatthere
socialconsequencesof transnational
sportsactivity.
is an international
on
of
law
based
agreements;
provisions international
sports
international
custom,evidencedby a generalpracticeacceptedas law; general
and subsidiary
sourcessuchas judicialdecisionsand scholarlywritprinciples;
international
ings.Accordingly,
sportslaw is largelyuncodified.
This understanding
dimensionsand consequencesof
takesthepolitico-legal
does
not
consider
economicand
international
into
but
account,
important
sports
as wellas national,
socialaspectsusuallycoveredbynationallaw.International,
sportscreatemanyproblemsto be solved by nationallaw. For example,the
of nationallaw madeby thestatesand international
sportslaw
interdependency
International
and
the
made by the International
Committee
(IOC)
Olympic
thedisqual(ISFs) is evidencedby thecase of Ben Johnson,
SportsFederations
ifiedwinnerof the 100-metersprintat the 1988 OlympicGames in Seoul.
a morerealisticdefinition
of international
Therefore,
sportslaw mustinclude
references.
The crucialquestionis the
nationallegal normswithinternational
of the different
sports.In this
legal normsthatgoverninternational
priority
connectionit is worthdiscussingwhethertheIOC's rulesand practicesreally
in thegloballegal system.Skepticismis advisable.
havebecomecustomary
of international
As a prologue,Nafzigeroffersa briefhistoricalperspective
in
ancient
and
modern
the
OlympicGames(chapsportscompetition, particular
forinternational
andlegal framework
terII). ChapterIII definestheinstitutional
Movement"
underthe
on
the
so-called
focusing
'Olympic
sportscompetition,
of
the
IOC
framework
includes
twenty-nine
leadership the IOC. (At present,
the'OlymOlympicISFs andelevenRecognizedISFs). Accordingto Nafziger,
legalorder,andthe
pic Movement"is a sortofchosenagentfortheinternational
Thisviewpoint
is controversial
as are
IOC has an international
legalpersonality.
the legal effectsof the OlympicRules.2 ChapterIV summarizesthe general
characteristics
and sharedgoals of sportscompetition.
ChaptersV-VII forma centralpartof thebook,dealingwiththeambivalent
relationbetweensportsand politics.Sportshave oftenbeen used- or misofforeign
used- as an instrument
policy.UsingtheUnitedStatesas an example,
Nafzigergives an overviewof the politicaldimensionsand implicationsof
sports.ChapterVI discussessevennationaluses or policyobjectivesof sports.
Nafzigerbelievesthatsportsare used to provokeconflict,to promoteinternato acquireprestige,to enhancehumanrights,to conveyor
tionalcooperation,
An AdpischenSportrecht (M. Will ed. 1989); Vedder,The International
OlympicCommittee:
vancedNon-Governmental
Law, 27 Ger. Y.B. Int'l L. 233
Organizationand theInternational
(1984).
- Anspruchund Wirklich2. See Troeger& Vedder,Rechtsqualitt
der IOC -Zulassungsregel
keit,in Die Einbindungdes Nationalen Sportrechtsin Internationale Bezge 1, 6 (D. Reuter
ed. 1984).
FALL 1990
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862
THE INTERNATIONALLAWYER
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