C7782 - LABORATORIO DI ARBITRATO NELLO SPORT

Learning outcomes

The course aims to provide students with the fundamental tools to understand the conduct of sports arbitration, including its relationship with ordinary jurisdiction and internal sports justice systems. It also seeks to develop students’ technical and conceptual competencies in arbitration proceedings before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne and before the Collegio di Garanzia of the Italian National Olympic Committee (CONI). Through the organization of a simulated arbitration proceeding, students will have the opportunity to directly experience the main challenges encountered in arbitration and to learn strategies for overcoming them.

Course contents

In addition to the practical component involving a simulated arbitration proceeding, the Workshop will cover the following topics:

1) General principles of sports justice

2) Arbitration and sports law

3) International sports arbitration: the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), Lausanne

By the end of the course, students will have developed specific personal skills in the following areas:

- Professional skills: problem solving, interpersonal communication, and teamwork (especially between students from two different universities), strategic assessment;

- Legal analysis and case law research skills;

- Drafting procedural documents through learning by doing and cooperative learning.

Through its hands-on methodology, the course aims to equip students from the University of Bologna and the University of Bergamo with key professional skills relevant to legal practice, bridging the gap between theory and practice in the field of sports justice.

Readings/Bibliography

To support the learning process, the following text is recommended as optional reading:

E. ZUCCONI GALLI FONSECA – C. RASIA, Laboratorio di arbitrato nello sport. Schemi e materiali, Bononia University Press, 2021, also available in open-access format at the following link: https://buponline.com/prodotto/laboratorio-di-arbitrato-nello-sport/.

Teaching methods

From academic year 2025/26, the Sports Arbitration Workshop will be offered as an innovative teaching course of 16 hours, granting 2 CFU, provided students attend and complete all three modules listed below.

(Note: absence from even one module will preclude the award of credits. No alternative assignments are provided.)

The course is structured as a practical learning journey, aiming to equip students with key skills in conducting sports arbitration, including understanding its relationship with ordinary and internal sports justice, as well as technical and conceptual tools for CAS and CONI proceedings.

The Workshop consists of three modules, delivered in a blended format and open to students from both the University of Bologna (UNIBO) and the University of Bergamo (UNIBG):

- Module 1 (4h): Held on 18/11/2025 entirely online. It is a theoretical session delivered by faculty members from UNIBO and UNIBG, providing the legal framework of arbitration in sports law.

- Module 2 (4h): Held on 24/11/2025 entirely online. Students, divided into mixed groups from UNIBO and UNIBG, will be assigned a case and prepare a simulated arbitration. Guided by faculty and teaching assistants, they will draft and exchange procedural documents.

- Module 3 (8h): Held on 01/12/2025 in person at the University of Bologna. Students, acting as claimant and respondent, will argue the case before an arbitral panel consisting of Prof. Stefano Bastianon, Prof. Elena Zucconi Galli Fonseca, and Prof. Carlo Rasia.

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Participation in SPORTS ARBITRATION MOOT 2026

In addition to the acquisition of theoretical and practical skills, the Workshop in 2025/26 aims to identify and select the most outstanding students to form the joint UNIBO-UNIBG team for the international “SPORTS ARBITRATION MOOT (SAM)” competition, coordinated by Prof. Stefano Bastianon (UNIBG) and Dr. Marta Naselli Flores (UNIBO).

SAM is a simulation of arbitration before CAS and involves discussing a sports law case. Partners include the Université de Neuchâtel Law School, the Swiss Arbitration Academy, and FIFA.

The competition is entirely in English and consists of both claimant and respondent roles. Each team competes in elimination oral rounds before arbitrators. Teams with the highest scores in pre-moots qualify for the finals in Madrid.

Further details: https://www.sportsarbitrationmoot.com/

Assessment methods

The Workshop concludes with a final discussion of the practical case, with students acting as claimant and respondent before an arbitral panel.

No oral exam is required.

Assessment is based on a “pass” grade and awards 2 CFU, granted exclusively upon full participation and attendance for the entire Workshop. There is no oral exam component.

The pass grade will be officially recorded by the instructor on the exam dates published on the instructor's webpage. Students must register online but are not required to attend the exam session in person.

Teaching tools

It will provide access to a virtual course on the E-learning platform to support classroom activities.

Students will have access to lecture slides from the theoretical portion and materials for the arbitration simulation.

Office hours

See the website of Carlo Rasia