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Constructing Statehood through Sport: Football, Kosovo, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  06 June 2019

RYAN GAUTHIER
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Abstract

Entities seeking to establish statehood have used participation in sport to bolster their claims. Kosovo is the latest entity to use this strategy. Kosovo’s quest to join the Union of European Football Associations led to a 2017 Court of Arbitration for Sport decision examining whether Kosovo was sufficiently an “independent state.” This article considers how participation in sport plays a role in establishing a broader, contextual conceptualization of statehood. This article then applies this concept to case studies, with particular attention paid to Kosovo. Finally, the article examines sport’s gradual acceptance that it must work within the broader international political and legal world.

Résumé

Les entités cherchant à établir leur statut d’État ont parfois recours à la pratique sportive pour appuyer leurs revendications. Le Kosovo est l’exemple le plus récent de l’utilisation de cette stratégie. Les efforts du Kosovo pour se joindre à l’Union des associations européennes de football ont débouché en 2017 sur une décision du Tribunal arbitral du sport examinant si le Kosovo était suffisamment “un État indépendant.” Cet article examine dans quelle mesure la participation au sport peut jouer un rôle dans l’établissement d’un État selon une conceptualisation large et contextuelle de ce statut. Cette notion est ensuite évaluée à la lumière d’études de cas, notamment celui du Kosovo. Enfin, l’article prend en note la reconnaissance progressive du monde sportif qu’il doit œuvrer au sein du monde politique et juridique international au sens large.

Keywords

Court of Arbitration for Sportinternational sports lawKosovorecognition of statesstatehoodUnion of European Football AssociationsDéfinition de l’Étatdroit international du sportKosovoreconnaissance de l’ÉtatTribunal arbitral du sportUnion des associations européennes de football
Type
Articles
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Canadian Yearbook of International Law/Annuaire canadien de droit international , Volume 56 , October 2019 , pp. 220 - 257
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Copyright © The Canadian Yearbook of International Law/Annuaire canadien de droit international 2019 

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70 Football Association of Serbia v Union des Associations Européennes de Football (UEFA), CAS 2006/A/4602 at para 42 [Football Association of Serbia].

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72 E.g., CAS, List of CAS Arbitrators by Nationality (April 2018), online: <http://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Liste_des_arbitres_par_nationalite_2018_04.pdf>.

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104 USOC and USA Canoe/Kayak/IOC, supra note 103 at para 15.

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107 Ibid at paras 20–24.

108 Ibid at paras 33–34.

109 Ibid at para 18; In the Matter Angel Perez, Award, CAS Ad Hoc Division OG 00/009 (2000).

110 Olympic Charter, supra note 66, rule 6.1; see Richard Espy, The Politics of the Olympic Games (Berkeley: University of California Press, 1981) at 163–64; O’Neill, supra note 83 at 413, discusses the “inherent paradox” of the rules; James AR Nafziger, “The Regulation of Transnational Sport Competition: Down from Mount Olympus” (1971) Vand J Transnatl L 180 at 202.

111 Olympic Charter, supra note 66, rule 40; see also O’Neill, supra note 83 at 414.

112 E.g., a South Sudanese athlete, Guor Marial, competed under the Olympic flag in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games, as South Sudan had not yet had its National Olympic Committee recognized.

113 E.g., Indian athletes competed under the Olympic flag when their National Olympic Committee was suspended for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games, while Russian athletes competed as “Olympic Athletes from Russia” during the 2018 Winter Olympic Games while the Russian Olympic Committee was suspended.

114 These entities are American Samoa, Aruba, Bermuda, the British Virgin Islands, the Cayman Islands, the Cook Islands, Guam, Hong Kong, Kosovo, the Palestinian Authority (designated “Palestine”), Puerto Rico, Taiwan (designated “Chinese Taipei”), and the United States Virgin Islands (designated “Virgin Islands”).

115 Olympic Charter, supra note 66, rule 34.1.

116 Ibid.

117 Cornelissen, Scarlett, “The Geopolitics of Global Aspiration: Sport Mega-Events and Emerging Powers” (2010) 27 International Journal of History of Sport 3007 at 3011; see alsoCrossRefGoogle Scholar Hill, Christopher R, “Keeping Politics in Sport” (1996) 52 World Today 192 at 192–93.CrossRefGoogle Scholar Although some decolonizing states sought to chart their own path with the “Games of the New Emerging Forces” (GANEFO), this was a short-lived affair with only one major event. Chris A Connolly, “The Politics of the Games of the New Emerging Forces (GANEFO)” (2012) 29 Intl J History Sport 1311.

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131 Nafziger, “International Sports Law,” supra note 45 at 498.

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137 Ibid at 238.

138 UN Security Council Resolution 1244 (1999) on the Deployment of International Civil and Security Presences in Kosovo, UN Doc S/RES/1244 (1999).

139 Summers, supra note 135 at 243.

140 Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in Respect of Kosovo, Advisory Opinion, [2010] ICJ Rep 403 at 452.

141 Ibid at 436.

142 Reference re Secession, supra note 25 at para 141: “It is true that international law may well, depending on the circumstances, adapt to recognize a political and/or factual reality, regardless of the legality of the steps leading to its creation.”

143 First Agreement of Principles Governing the Normalization of Relations (2013), online: <http://www.rts.rs/upload/storyBoxFileData/2013/04/20/3224318/Originalni%20tekst%20Predloga%20sporazuma.pdf>; see also Dana M Landau, “The Quest for Legitimacy in Independent Kosovo: The Unfulfilled Promise of Diversity and Minority Rights” (2017) 45:3 Nationalities Papers 442 at 448; Piotr Smolar, “Serbia and Kosovo Sign Historic Agreement,” The Guardian (30 April 2013), online <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2013/apr/30/serbia-kosovo-historic-agreement-brussels>.

144 Letter from Muhamet Berisha to IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch (4 December 1995) (on file with the IOC Library).

145 UN Security Council Resolution 757 on Bosnia and Herzegovina, UN Doc S/RES/757 (1992), art 8(b).

146 Mills, Richard, “‘It All Ended in an Unsporting Way’: Serbian Football and the Disintegration of Yugoslavia, 1989–2006” (2009) 26:9 Intl J History Sport 1187 at 1203–04, 1210.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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148 Ibid at 128–31.

149 Union of European Football Associations, UEFA Club Licensing and Financial Fair Play Regulations (2015), online: <https://www.uefa.com/MultimediaFiles/Download/Tech/uefaorg/General/02/26/77/91/2267791_DOWNLOAD.pdf>..>Google Scholar

150 Union of European Football Associations, supra note 74, art 1(1). Code civil Suisse du 10 décembre 1907, art 60.

151 Ibid, art 12(1).

152 Ibid, arts 21(1), 23(2).

153 Although the CAS did reduce the ban from six years to four years. Michel Platini c Fédération Internationale de Football Association, CAS 2016/A/4474 (2016).

154 “UEFA Congress Approves Good Governance Reforms,” UEFA (5 April 2017), online: <http://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/mediaservices/newsid=2455199.html>.

155 Union of European Football Associations, supra note 74, art 5(1).

156 Gibraltar Football Association (GFA)/Union des Associations Européennes de Football (UEFA), CAS 2002/O/410 (2002) at para 38.

157 Gibraltar Badminton Association (GBA)/International Badminton Federation (IBF), CAS 2001/A/329 (2001).

158 Ibid at para 5.

159 Union of European Football Associations, supra note 74, art 5(1).

160 Gibraltar Football Association (GFA)/Union des Associations Européennes de Football (UEFA), CAS 2002/O/410 (2002) at para 17.

161 “Kosovo Relishing the Future,” UEFA (accessed 29 April 2018), online: <http://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/member-associations/association=kos/index.html>. For more on Yugoslavian football, see Richard Mills, The Politics of Football in Yugoslavia: Sport, Nationalism and the State (London: IB Tauris, 2018).

162 By comparison, the vote to recognize the Kosovo National Olympic Committee (NOC) by the IOC was unanimously in favour. Minutes of the Meeting of the 127th IOC Session (Monaco, 8–9 December 2014) at 34.

163 Football Association of Serbia, supra note 70 at para 37.

164 Ibid at para 38. There was also an argument made by the Football Association of Serbia (Fudbalski Savez Srbije or FSS) that its freedom of association rights under EU law were violated, but this argument was summarily dismissed by the CAS. Ibid at 134–36.

165 Ibid at para 101.

166 Ibid, citing Irish Football Association (IFA) v Football Association of Ireland (FAI), Daniel Kearns and Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), CAS 2010/A/2071 (2010) at para 20.

167 Ibid at para 106, citing Union of European Football Associations, supra note 74, art 5(1).

168 Football Association of Serbia, supra note 70 at para 107.

169 Ibid at para 108.

170 Charter of the United Nations, supra note 9, art 4(1).

171 Football Association of Serbia, supra note 70 at para 114.

172 Ibid at para 115.

173 Ibid at para 116.

174 Ibid at paras 112–13.

175 Ibid at para 123.

176 Ibid at para 124.

177 Ibid.

178 Ibid at paras 126–28.

179 Ibid at para 129.

180 Ibid at para 130.

181 Court of Arbitration for Sport, Code of Sports-related Arbitration, supra note 69 at R37.

182 Of peripheral interest, the first UEFA Champions League game for a Kosovar team, Trepça ’89, was against Víkingur Gøta of the Faroe Islands, one of the non-state members of UEFA.

183 The flag was listed, alongside the flags of Taiwan, Somaliland, Western Kurdistan, and even the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, as banned from stadiums. Tariq Panja, “Thanks to Politics, Not All Flags Are Allowed to Wave inside the Stadiums,” New York Times (14 July 2018) at SP5.

184 Gibson, Owen, “UEFA Defends Decision Not to Keep Serbia and Albania Apart after Brawl,” The Guardian (15 October 2014), online: <https://www.theguardian.com/football/2014/oct/15/uefa-defends-decision-serbia-albania-mass-brawl>.Google Scholar

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186 Nafziger, James AR, “Spectator and Other Supporter-Induced Violence: Albanian and Serbian Football before the Court of Arbitration for Sport” in Stefan Lorenzmeier & Hans-Peter Folz, eds, Recht und Realität: Festschrift für Christoph Vedder (Baden-Baden: Nomos Verlagsgesellschaft, 2017) 891 at 898.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

187 Ibid.

188 Football Association of Albania v UEFA & Football Association of Serbia, CAS 2015/A/3874 (2015) at para 197. UEFA also penalized the Albanian team with a three-to-zero forfeit of the match, but this penalty was overturned by the CAS.

189 Ibid at para 239.

190 Ibid at para 248.

191 Ibid at para 251.

192 Ibid at para 256.

193 Football Association of Serbia v UEFA, CAS 2015/A/3875 (2015) at paras 127–28.

194 Ibid at para 133.

195 “Police Arrest Man behind ‘Greater Albania’ Drone Stunt ahead of Serbia Match,” DW.com (7 October 2015), online: <https://www.dw.com/en/police-arrest-man-behind-greater-albania-drone-stunt-ahead-of-serbia-match/a-18766704>.

196 Gibson, supra note 184.

197 Zivanovic, Maja, “Rising Serbia-Kosovo Tension Damages Sporting Contacts,” BalkanInsight (8 May 2018), online: <http://www.balkaninsight.com/en/article/serbia-kosovo-issue-influencing-sport-events-05-07-2018>.Google Scholar

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199 Ibid at 365–66.

200 Beloff et al, supra note 98 at 7–12; Mitten & Opie, supra note 98 at 315.

201 See Kaufmann-Kohler, supra note 198 at 373.

202 To borrow from the famous advice from comedian Steve Martin, to “be so good they can’t ignore you.” Steve Martin, “Advice from Steve Martin,” YouTube (15 August 2015), online: <https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teAvv6jnuXY>.

203 On the Budget of the Republic of Kosovo for Year 2018, Law no 06/L-020, Schedule 3.2 at 38–42, online: <https://mf.rks-gov.net/desk/inc/media/ED82668F-DF99-42A3-A3ED-DE85125C56BC.pdf> (setting out an investment of €15–20 million each year between 2018 and 2020 for the construction and renovation of sport facilities).

204 FIFA Monitoring Committee: Israel-Palestine, “Report by Committee Chairman Mr Tokyo Sexwale,” Medium (27 October 2017) at para 2.3, online: <https://medium.com/@daoudkuttab/full-text-of-tokyo-sexwale-chairmans-report-to-fifa-on-palestine-israel-53c27c909a5b>.

205 Ibid at para 2.7.

206 Ibid at paras 5.1–5.3. FIFA Statutes, supra note 76.

207 FIFA, “FIFA Council Statement on the Final Report by the FIFA Monitoring Committee Israel-Palestine,” FIFA (27 October 2017) online: <https://www.fifa.com/about-fifa/news/y=2017/m=10/news=fifa-council-statement-on-the-final-report-by-the-fifa-monitoring-comm-2917741.html>.

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214 Bilefsky, Dan, “Kosovo Attains Status (on Facebook) It Has Sought for Years: Nation,” New York Times (12 December 2013), online: <https://www.nytimes.com/2013/12/13/world/europe/kosovo-seeking-recognition-follows-the-crowd-to-facebook-social-media.html>.Google Scholar

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220 Duval, supra note 64.