Article
Prospect for Developing Sports Arbitration in Kosovo
The internationalization of the Kosovo sport demands the establishment of an effective and efficient sports system aligned to rules of international sports associations, EU law and other international standards, as well as sound institutional infrastructure that will implement this regulatory framework.
Abstract
Recent developments and success stories related to Kosovo sports convey the necessity to explore the legal infrastructure related to sports. Only this year, Kosovo made an international breakthrough in sports by getting admission in both UEFA and FIFA, and its sportswomen made history by winning the first-ever gold Olympic medal in Rio2016. Last year, Kosovo was granted admission to FIBA, thus becoming its 215th member. The internationalization of the Kosovo sport demands the establishment of an effective and efficient sports system aligned to rules of international sports associations, EU law and other international standards, as well as sound institutional infrastructure that will implement this regulatory framework.
Along with the development of the sports law, many countries have also developed national sports arbitration bodies thus providing to sports organizations, members of the national Olympic Committees and other interested parties, a forum where they can refer their contractual disputes related to sport. In Kosovo, arbitration law has received a significant attention during the last couple of years and two arbitration centers have been established, one with the American Chamber of Commerce (AmCham) and another one with the Kosovo Chamber of Commerce (KCC). Both arbitration centers provide commercial arbitration services, and while commercial arbitration and sports arbitration share many characteristics, the sports arbitration, nevertheless distinguishes from nonsports- related arbitration in many aspects. Sports-related disputes are facilitated with procedural rules specifically adapted to sports thus ensuring speed, special expertise, and last but not the least, consistency and transparency. In addition, sports-related arbitration bodies also serve as a final court of appeal for disciplinary cases.
The aim of the present paper is to examine Kosovo’s current legal and institutional infrastructure related to sports and present some findings with regard to the level of its conformity with EU and international standards, as well as to look into the possibilities of creation of a national sports arbitration body for settlement of sports-related disputes, mainly based on the Court of Arbitration for Sport mode
