Der Sportler und die institutionelle Sportschiedsgerichtsbarkeit

On the question of whether a litigation in the field of organised sport must be settled by a state court or by an arbitration court, this dissertation emphasises the need to protect the athletes who are – contrary to the legal situation – not free to choose their jurisdiction. The constitutional right of access to justice has to be respected by the application of the standards of protection under civil law. For this reason, an athlete cannot be forced to renounce the jurisdiction of his/her legally competent judge, unless the decision of an arbitration court is needed to protect the core area of organised sport. In addition, arbitration courts must guarantee independent decisions rendered by independent panels of arbitrators. Due to the structural imbalance between athletes and sports associations, this is even more pertinent to institutional arbitration courts in the field of sport. Particularly with regard to the CAS, this dissertation exposes certain weaknesses in need of reform.