'Tu CASa no es mi casa’: Is the Autonomy of EU Law Looming over Sport Arbitration?

This article examines whether arbitral proceedings before Arbitral Panels established under the procedural rules of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) breach the interpretative monopoly of the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) over the definitive interpretation of EU law. As a starting point, the contribution briefly outlines the relationship between the Union’s legal order and sports rules up to the judgment of the CJEU of December 2023 in International Skating Union (ISU) v. Commission, whose findings concerning competition law are scrutinised in view of the case law of CJEU on the autonomy of Union law. In this respect, it concludes that incompatibility with the latter principle cannot be ruled out due to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (FSC) to hear appeals against CAS awards within the scope of the EU treaties. In conclusion, the article discusses select possibilities designed to ensure, on the one hand, unity and consistency in the interpretation of international sports rules and, on the other hand, respect for the autonomy of EU law.