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This open access book explores the complexity of the lex sportiva, the transnational legal regime governing international sports. Pioneering in its approach, it maps out the many entanglements of the transnational governance of sports with European legal processes and norms. The contributors trace the embeddedness of the lex sportiva within national law, European Union law and the European Convention on Human Rights. While the volume emphasizes the capacity of sports governing bodies to leverage the resources of national law to spread the lex sportiva globally, it also points at the fact that European legal processes are central when challenging the status quo as illustrated recently in the Semenya and Superleague cases. Ultimately, the book is also a vantage point to start critically investigating the Eurocentricity and the complex materiality underpinning the lex sportiva. The ebook editions of this book are available open access under a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 licence on bloomsburycollections.com. Open access was funded by the Swedish Studies Network.

The focus lies on the European Union (EU) for reasons: 28 EU Member States have conferred on it the exclusive competence to regulate external commercial policy, the EU has the second-largest share of imports in the world, and EU courts have recently subjected EU trade agreements to legal review, in relation to imports from occupied territories. The exploitation of renewable natural resources, e.g. fish caught off the coast of Western Saharan and traded under the EU-Moroccan Fisheries Partnership, should not result in a permanent depletion of these resources. The EU's opening up of its markets to the relevant products can be considered as a 'positive' act. The intent requirement could be fulfilled on the basis of the EU's knowledge of the possible illicit outcome. Some EU imports may pertain to products that have been produced, or are derived from natural resources exploited in violation of the principles of occupation law.

Sports policy is somewhat of 'a new kid on the block' for the EU. It only acquired a competence in sport following the adoption of Lisbon Treaty in 2007, in force since 2009. This is not to say the EU lacks experience in sporting matters. For many years, the EU institutions have grappled with the issue of how to reconcile the specificity of sport with the demands of EU law. This debate is ongoing, but not the subject of our enquiry. Our focus is to assist the EU in considering the merits of adopting a sport diplomacy strategy, first mooted by a High-Level Group on Sport Diplomacy in 2016. Four members of that group form part of the research team for this study. EU action since that report indicates enthusiasm for sport diplomacy. However, to act effectively in this relatively new field of EU activity, the EU institutions and the Member States require an evidence-base. The aim of our project was to undertake primary research and stage a series of Multiplier Sport Events (MSE) to provide such evidence on the efficacy of sport as a diplomatic tool. During our six MSEs, we invited a wide range of actors to share their thoughts and experiences on the practice of sport diplomacy. These events reinforced our view of the value of sport in helping the EU achieve its external relations ambitions. In this study, we claim that now is the time for the EU to act more strategically in this field and adopt an EU Sport Diplomacy Strategy.