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

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):

The first module, lasting 4 hours, will take place on dates to be announced in a hybrid format.

The first module consists of a primarily theoretical lecture delivered by faculty members from Unibo and Unibg and will focus on identifying the regulatory framework for arbitration in the field of sports law.

At the end of the module, students will be divided into teams of three.

- The second module, lasting 8 hours, will take place remotely on dates to be announced, and is divided into two parts that will be held on two different days.

The first day will initially be devoted to case preparation, drafting legal documents, and advocacy techniques. Each team must file a brief defense brief by the date set for the second day.

The second day will be devoted to preliminary hearings before faculty members serving as sole arbiters.

Each arbiter will assign a score, and based on these scores, a ranking will be established to determine which teams advance to the third module.

- The third module (lasting 4 hours) is dedicated to the final hearing between the three teams that won the preliminary rounds.

At the end of the hearing, the Arbitration Panel—composed of three members, Prof. Stefano Bastianon, Prof. Elena Zucconi Galli Fonseca, and Prof. Carlo Rasia—will deliberate on both the outcome of the trial and the individual evaluations.

Finally, the solution to the case will be presented.

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Participation in SPORTS ARBITRATION MOOT 2027

In addition to the acquisition of theoretical and practical skills, the Workshop in 2026/27 aims to identify and select the most outstanding students to form the joint UNIBO-UNIBG team for the international “SPORTS ARBITRATION MOOT (SAM)” competition.

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