Review of sports sanctions: When is a sports body a “court or tribunal” under EU law? (Part 2)
Part[1] 1 (see here) of this article examined the first issue decided by the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) in FIGC and CONI: whether Articles 45 and 56 TFEU permit a national sports association to impose disciplinary sanctions that restrict a director’s professional activities.
The CJEU held that it does, provided the sanctions pursue a legitimate objective in the public interest and satisfy the principle of proportionality, with the detailed proportionality assessment left to the national court.
This article is Part 2 and turns to the Court’s answer on effective judicial protection: how intensive the review of such sanctions must be, what remedies a national court must be able to grant, and whether a sports body can itself qualify as a “court or tribunal” for the purposes of EU law.
It looks at:
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- Tags: Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union | Court of Justice of European Union | European Union | Football | Italy | Treaty of Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) | Treaty on European Union (TEU)
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Written by
Renato Nazzini KC
Renato is a barrister at Monckton Chambers and professor of competition law at King’s College London. In 2025, he was appointed King’s Counsel (Hon) for his major contribution to English law.
He is also qualified as an Italian advocate. He is an expert in competition law and arbitration, acting as counsel and arbitrator in competition, commercial and sports disputes. He has particular expertise in sports disputes involving a competition or EU law dimension, as well as disputes arising from significant commercial sports-related contracts. Renato benefits from having worked for eight years at the UK competition authority where he advised on investigations, appeals, mergers and policy work across all industry sectors.
As an arbitrator, Renato has served as sole arbitrator, tribunal chair or president, co-arbitrator, and emergency arbitrator. Renato has published widely on competition enforcement, abuse of dominance and arbitration. He has been a visiting professor at the University of Turin, the University of Zurich, and FGV School of Law, São Paulo, Brazil. He holds doctorates from the University of Milan and the University of London. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
