Following the European Commission and the General Court of the EU, the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) confirmed on Thursday 21 December (case C-124/21 P) that the rules of the International Skating Union (ISU), aimed at subjecting international ice speed skating competitions to its approval and imposing severe penalties on athletes taking part in unauthorised competitions, are illegal.
According to the CJEU judgment, these rules “are not framed by any guarantee ensuring that they are transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate”, thus giving the ISU an advantage by enabling it to prevent the organisation of competing competitions, but also by preventing professional skaters from taking part in them.
Furthermore, these rules are likely to deprive consumers and television viewers of any possibility of attending such competitions.
Back in 2017, the European Commission ruled that these ISU rules infringed EU law (see EUROPE 11922/15). It also felt that the arbitration rules deprived professional skaters of effective access to the courts.
In 2020, the ISU’s appeal against the Commission’s decision was rejected by the General Court of the EU, confirming the illegal nature of these authorisation and participation rules.
On Thursday, the CJEU rejected the appeal lodged by the ISU against the General Court’s ruling, thus confirming the illegality of the ISU’s rules.
The Court pointed out that the organisation of sporting competitions constitutes an economic activity and that competition rules must therefore be complied with. It also emphasised that the ISU may adopt and enforce, by means of sanctions, rules relating to the organisation and running of competitions, but that these must be subject to “a framework to ensure that they are transparent, objective, non-discriminatory and proportionate”.
To see the CJEU ruling: https://aeur.eu/f/a7k (Original version in French by Pauline Denys)