Human rights in the Olympic Movement: The application of international and European standards to the lex sportiva
| Author | Antonio Di Marco |
| DOI | http://doi.org/10.1177/09240519221112554 |
| Published date | 01 September 2022 |
| Date | 01 September 2022 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
Human rights in the Olympic
Movement: The application
of international and European
standards to the lex sportiva
Antonio Di Marco
,*
Teaching Professor University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France
Abstract
The promotion of th e Olympic ideals i s strongly correla ted with the effe ctive protection o f
human rights in t he sporting context. However, countless pr actical examples of violatio ns of ath-
letes’human rights have shown how the link between sport and human rights is continuously
placed under strong pressure. Taking into consideration the thesis according to which human
rights are an indire ct legal source of the lex sporti va, this study analyses the gaps in the protection
of the fundamental rights of athletes. By verifying the potential effects on the sporting juridical
bodies’competences and on the effective implications in sporting affairs for the European Court
of Human Rights, the hypothesis of an emerging incorporation of human rights in sports legal
orders will also be i nvestigated. At th e end of these pages, by identifying t he limits and pers pec-
tives of the judicial protection of athletes’human rights, we should also be able to evaluate if, and
to what extent, a reform of sport justice bodies is urgently needed in order to guarantee the
function of sport as an instrument of peace and sustainable development, vehicle of rights,
and source of social inclusion.
Keywords
Olympic Movement, lex sportiva, sport justice, autonomy of sport, indirect effect of human
rights
* The author would like to thank the anonymous referees for their help both with the form and substance of this piece.
Corresponding author:
Antonio Di Marco, Teaching Professor University of Strasbourg, Strasbourg, France.
Email: a.dimarco@unistra.fr
Article
Netherlands Quarterly of Human Rights
2022, Vol. 40(3) 244–268
© The Author(s) 2022
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/09240519221112554
journals.sagepub.com/home/nqh
1. INTRODUCTION: OLYMPISM, HUMAN RIGHTS, AND GAPS IN
THE PROTECTION OF ATHLETES
‘The goal of Olympism is to place sport at the service of the harmonious development of
humankind, with a view to promoting a peaceful society concerned with the preservation of human
dignity’
1
The grand ideals enclosed in the Olympic Charter suggest the existence of a close nexus between
sport and human rights. Within the ‘idealist internationalisms’context, some authors have under-
lined this parallelism by emphasising the universal values of equality, fairness, justice, respect for
the person, rationality, international understanding, peace, autonomy, and excellence.
2
In this per-
spective, by sharing identical purposes, Olympism essentially tends to be identified with
humanism.
3
This nexus has received large recognition within the international community. Described as ‘a
tool of peace and sustainable development’by the United Nations (UN)
4
,as‘a vehicle of rights’by
the Council of Europe (CoE),
5
sport has been namely addressed as ‘a source of, and driver for active
social inclusion’by the European Commission (Commission),
6
the European Parliament (EP),
7
and
the Council of the European Union (Council).
8
Studies about the complex relation between sport
and human rights under different perspectives are currently ongoing.
9
1. IOC, Olympic Charter, Fundamental Principles of Olympism (26 June 2019) 11, point 2.
2. John Hoberman, ‘Toward a Theory of Olympic Internationalism’(1995) 22 Journal of Sport History 1; Jim Parry, ‘The
Moral and Cultural Dimensions of Olympism and Their Educational Application’in Konstantinos Georgiadis (ed),
International Olympic Academy Proceedings (International Olympic Academy 1994) 181; Dikaia Chatziefsstathiou
and Ian Henry, Discourses of Olympism: From the Sorbonne 1894 to London 2012 (Palgrave Macmillan 2012).
3. In addition to the authors already mentioned in the previous note, see: Yves-Pierre Boulogne, ‘Olympism more than ever’
(1999) 16 Olympic Review 37; John MacAloon, ‘On the Structural Origins of Olympic Individuality’(1996) 67 Research
Quarterly 136.
4. United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) Res 69/6 Sport as a means to promote education, health, development and
peace (10 November 2014) A/RES/69/6. See also the UNESCO Kazan Action Plan, adopted on 15 July 2017 at the Sixth
International Conference of Ministers and Senior Officials Responsible for Physical Education and Sport, MINEPS VI.
5. CoE, Recommendation on the principles of good governance in sport (2005) CM/Rec(2005)8, 1.
6. As previously mentioned, the most important measures adopted by the Commission are the White Paper on Sport (11 July
2007, COM(2007) 391 final) and the Helsinki Report on Sport (1 December 1999, COM (1999) 644 final). However, over
the last years, the Commission has issued a number of Communications that concernsport and activities related to it, such
as: Europe 2020: A strategy for smart, sustainable and inclusive growth, COM (2010) 2020 final; Developing the
European Dimension in Sport, COM (2011) 12 final.
7. EP Resolution 2016/2143(INI) of 2 February 2017 on an integrated approach to Sport Policy: good governance, acces-
sibility and integrity [2017] OJ C252/2; EP Resolution 2015/2139(INI) of 19 January 2016 on the role of intercultural
dialogue, cultural diversity and education in promoting EU fundamental values [2016] OJ C11/16; EP Resolution
2011/2087(INI) of 2 February 2012 on the European dimension in sport [2012] OJ CE239/46; EP Resolution 2007/
2086(INI) of 13 November 2007 on the role of sport in education [2007] OJ CE282/131.
8. Council, Conclusions on the role of sport as a source of and a driver for active social inclusion (2010) 2010/C 326/04.
9. Stephen Weatherill, ‘Sport as culture in EC law’(2014) European sports law 245; Simon Gardiner, Richard Parrish and
Robert Siekmann, EU, sport, law and policy: regulation, re-regulation and representation (Springer 2009); Sandrine
Giummarra, Les droits fondamentaux et le sport: contribution à l’étude de la constitutionnalisation du droit du sport
(PU Aix-Marseille 2012); Sebastien Depré, ‘Les droits fondamentaux et le sport’in Robert Andersen, Diane Déom,
et al. (eds), En hommage à Francis Delpérée: itinéraires d’un constitutionnaliste (Bruylant/LGDJ 2007) 453; Jacopo
Tognon and Antonella Stelitano, Sport, Unione europea e diritti umani: il fenomeno sportivo e le sue funzioni nelle nor-
mative comunitarie e internazionali (CLEUP 2011).
Antonio Di Marco 245
To continue reading
Request your trial