¹ Grohmann, Karolos, “Kosovo Granted Provisional Olympic Recognition by IOC,” Reuters (22 October 2014), online: <http://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-kosovo-membership-idUSKCN0IB29220141022>.Google Scholar

² Grohmann, Karolos, “Kosovo Earns Olympic Recognition, Serbia Furious,” Reuters (9 December 2014), online: <http://www.reuters.com/article/us-olympics-kosovo-idUSKBN0JN13B20141209>.Google Scholar

³ Homewood, Brian, “Kosovo Becomes Member of UEFA, Paves Way for FIFA Application,” Reuters (3 May 2016), online: <http://reuters.com/article/uk-uefa-kosovo-idUKKCN0XU11D>.Google Scholar

⁴ Although the question before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and the focus of this article, is the admission of the national sporting federation, the Football Federation of Kosovo (FFK), as a member of the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), I will simply refer to the FFK as “Kosovo” for ease of reference, unless a distinction between the FFK as a sporting organization and Kosovo as a state needs to be drawn. The same applies to other national sporting federations and their states.

⁵ See Yin, Robert K, Case Study Research: Design and Methods, 3rd ed (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2003) at 1;Google Scholar Bennett, Andrew & Elman, Colin, “Case Study Methods” in Christian Reus-Smit & Duncan Snidal, eds, The Oxford Handbook of International Relations (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2008) 499 at 502–04, 506–07.Google Scholar

⁶ Giulianotti, Richard et al, “Contested States and the Politics of Sport: The Case of Kosovo — Division, Development, and Recognition” (2017) 9 Intl J Sport Policy & Politics 121;CrossRefGoogle Scholar Brentin, Dario & Tregoures, Loïc, “Entering through the Sport’s Door? Kosovo’s Sport Diplomatic Endeavours towards International Recognition” (2016) 27:2 Diplomacy and Statecraft 360.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁷ Crawford, James R, The Creation of States in International Law, 2nd ed (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2007) at 37–40.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁸ Ibid at 44; Lauterpacht, Hersch, Recognition in International Law (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 1947) at para 2; Reparation for Injuries Suffered in the Service of the United Nations, Advisory Opinion, [1949] ICJ Rep 174 at 180.Google Scholar

⁹ Charter of the United Nations, 26 June 1945, Can TS 1945 No 7, art 4(1).

¹⁰ 26 December 1933, 165 LNTS 19, no 3802.

¹¹ Grant, Thomas D, “Defining Statehood: The Montevideo Convention and Its Discontents” (1999) 37 Colum J Transnatl L 403 at 434.Google Scholar

¹² Crawford, supra note 7 at 61.

¹³ Vidmar, Jure, Democratic Statehood in International Law (Oxford: Hart, 2013) at 41 [Vidmar, Democratic Statehood].Google Scholar

¹⁴ Crawford, supra note 7 at 61; Shaw, Malcolm N, International Law, 7th ed (Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press, 2014) at 147: “[T]he essence of such capacity is independence.”Google Scholar

¹⁵ Ibid at 62. Independence was also put forward as a condition of statehood alongside political organization and practical effectiveness by Hans Kelsen in 1941. Kelsen, Hans, “Recognition in International Law: Theoretical Observations” (1941) 35 Am J Intl L 605 at 607–08.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹⁶ Crawford, supra note 7 at 67, 72.

¹⁷ Ibid at 88.

¹⁸ Declaration on Yugoslavia and on the Guidelines on the Recognition of New States, 16 December 1991, 31 ILM 1485 (1992); see also Conference on Yugoslavia Arbitration Commission, Opinions on Questions Arising from the Dissolution of Yugoslavia, 11 January and 4 July 1992, 31 ILM 1488 (1992) (also known as the Badinter Arbitration Committee).

¹⁹ Accordance with International Law of the Unilateral Declaration of Independence in Respect of Kosovo, Advisory Opinion, [2010] ICJ Rep 403 at 602, 617.Google Scholar

²⁰ Crawford, supra note 7 at 90.

²¹ Grant, supra note 11 at 447.

²² Vidmar, Democratic Statehood, supra note 13 at 42; see generally Crawford, supra note 7 at 107–55.

²³ Crawford, supra note 7 at 157–73.

²⁴ Grzybowski, Janis, “To Be or Not to Be: The Ontological Predicament of State Creation in International Law” (2017) 28 EJIL 409 at 426–30.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

²⁵ Reference re Secession of Quebec, [1998] 2 SCR 217 at para 141 [Reference re Secession].

²⁶ Vidmar, Democratic Statehood, supra note 13 at 50. It is possible that a new state is created by the combining of two existing states — such as a reunified Korea. However, this situation would be a voluntary decision by the states involved and unlikely to create the problems of recognition we otherwise see.

²⁷ Ibid; Vidmar, Jure, “Territorial Integrity and the Law of Statehood” (2012) 44 Geo Wash Intl L Rev 697 at 707–08Google Scholar [Vidmar, “Territorial Integrity”]; Reference re Secession, supra note 25 at para 122.

²⁸ Vidmar, “Territorial Integrity,” supra note 27 at 734.

²⁹ Ibid at 736.

³⁰ Thomas Worster, William, “Law, Politics, and the Conception of the State in State Recognition Theory” (2009) 27 BU ILJ 115 at 119;Google Scholar Erman, Eva, “The Recognitive Practices of Declaring and Constituting Statehood” (2013) 5 Intl Theory 129 at 123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

³¹ Lauterpacht, supra note 8 at para 1.

³² Worster, supra note 30 at 124–36.

³³ Vidmar, Democratic Statehood, supra note 13 at 44, 50.

³⁴ Crawford, supra note 7 at 21–22.

³⁵ Worster, supra note 30 at 148–52.

³⁶ Reference re Secession, supra note 25 at para 141.

³⁷ Crawford, supra note 7 at 5.

³⁸ Vidmar, Democratic Statehood, supra note 13 at 49.

³⁹ Vidmar, “Territorial Integrity,” supra note 27 at 742.

⁴⁰ Chen, Lung-chu, An Introduction to Contemporary International Law: A Policy-Oriented Perspective, 3rd ed (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2015) at 42.Google Scholar

⁴¹ Grzybowski, supra note 24 at 430.

⁴² Ibid at 431.

⁴³ Wendt, Alexander, “Anarchy Is What States Make of It” (1992) 46 Intl Org 391 at 403.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁴⁴ Katzenstein, Peter J, Keohane, Robert O & Krasner, Stephen D, “International Organization and the Study of World Politics” (1998) 52 Intl Org 645 at 679.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁴⁵ Nafziger, James AR, “International Sports Law: A Replay of Characteristics and Trends” (1992) 86:3 AJIL 489 at 491 [Nafziger, “International Sports Law”].CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁴⁶ Brunneé, Jutta & Toope, Stephen J, “International Law and Constructivism: Elements of an Interactional Theory of International Law” (2000) Colum J Transnatl L 39 at 65.Google Scholar

⁴⁷ See e.g. Brunneé, Jutta & Toope, Stephen J, Legitimacy and Legality in International Law: An Interactional Account (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2010) at 92–123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁴⁸ Vidmar, “Territorial Integrity,” supra note 27 at 701.

⁴⁹ Searle, John R, The Construction of Social Reality (New York: Free Press, 1995) at 27.Google Scholar

⁵⁰ Erman, supra note 30 at 133.

⁵¹ Grzybowski, supra note 24 at 431.

⁵² Vidmar, Democratic Statehood, supra note 13 at 47, 49; see also Reference re Secession, supra note 25 at para 142.

⁵³ Kelsen, supra note 15 at 608.

⁵⁴ Cottrell, M Patrick & Nelson, Travis, “Not Just the Games? Power, Protest and Politics at the Olympics” (2011) 17 European J Intl Relations 729;CrossRefGoogle Scholar Allison, Lincoln & Monnington, Terry, “Sport, Prestige and International Relations” (2002) 37 Government and Opposition 106;CrossRefGoogle Scholar Taylor, Trevor, “Sport and World Politics: Functionalism and the State System” (1988) 43 Intl J 531 at 532.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁵⁵ Central Council of Physical Recreation, The Report of the Wolfenden Committee: Sport and the Community (London: Central Council of Physical Recreation, 1960) at 73.Google Scholar

⁵⁶ Rofe, J Simoin, “Sport and Diplomacy: A Global Diplomacy Framework” (2016) 27:2 Diplomacy & Statecraft 212 at 213–15;CrossRefGoogle Scholar Levermore, Roger & Budd, Adrian, “Introduction: Sport and International Relations: Continued Neglect?” in Roger Levermore & Adrian Budd, eds, Sport and International Relations (London: Routledge, 2004) 6 at 6–7.Google Scholar

⁵⁷ The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has claimed that four billion people watched the 2004 Summer Olympic Games, although this figure is likely inflated. Zimbalist, Andrew, Circus Maximus: The Economic Gamble Behind Hosting the Olympics and the World Cup (Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2015) at 56.Google Scholar

⁵⁸ Allison & Monnington, supra note 54 at 133.

⁵⁹ Grix, Jonathan & Michael Brannagan, Paul, “Of Mechanisms and Myths: Conceptualizing States’ ‘Soft Power’ Strategies through Sports Mega-Events” (2016) 27:2 Diplomacy and Statecraft 251.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁶⁰ Cottrell & Nelson, supra note 54 at 731; Allison & Monnington, supra note 54 at 124.

⁶¹ Bertoli, Andrew D, “Nationalism and Conflict: Lessons from International Sports” (2017) 61 International Studies Quarterly 835 at 843, 846–47.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁶² Gauthier, Ryan, The IOC, Law, and Accountability (Oxford: Routledge, 2017) at 108.Google Scholar

⁶³ Chappelet, Jean-Loup & Kübler-Mabbott, Brenda, The International Olympic Committee and the Olympic System: The Governance of World Sport (Oxford: Routledge, 2008) at 9–10.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁶⁴ See Duval, Antoine, “Lex Sportiva: A Playground for Transnational Law” (2013) 19 Eur LJ 822 at 828–30;CrossRefGoogle Scholar Foster, Ken, “Is There a Global Sports Law?” (2003) 2 Entertainment Law 1 at 2;CrossRefGoogle Scholar Foster, Ken, “Global Administrative Law: The Next Step for Global Sports Law?” Social Science Research Network(2012), online: <https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2057750>;Google Scholar Casini, Lorenzo, “Sports Law: A Global Legal Order?” Social Science Research Network (2012), online: <https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2079857>; Nafziger, “International Sports Law,” supra note 45 at 493–94, 518.Google Scholar

⁶⁵ For more on the Olympic movement, see Gauthier, supra note 62 at 47–51; see also Chappelet & Kübler-Mabbott, supra note 63 at 9–10. The usual caveat applies when speaking about many professional sporting leagues in North America and Australia, amongst others, which are not part of the transnational Olympic movement.

⁶⁶ IOC, Olympic Charter (Lausanne: IOC, 2016), rule 1.1 [Olympic Charter].

⁶⁷ Ibid, rule 27.6.

⁶⁸ “One in Seven Olympic Committees Are Directly Linked to Governments,” PlaytheGame (8 June 2017), online: <http://www.playthegame.org/news/news-articles/2017/0311_one-in-seven-olympic-committees-are-directly-linked-to-governments/>; Chappelet & Kübler-Mabbott, supra note 63 at 54.

⁶⁹ CAS, Code of Sports-related Arbitration: In Force as from 1 January 2017 (2018) at R47 [CAS, Code of Sports-related Arbitration].

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

⁷¹ CAS, Code of Sports-related Arbitration, supra note 69 at S13.

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>.

⁷³ CAS, Code of Sports-related Arbitration, supra note 69 at S14.

⁷⁴ For the IOC, see Olympic Charter, supra note 66, rule 15.1; for UEFA, see Union of European Football Associations, UEFA Statutes (Nyon: Union of European Football Associations, 2016), art 1(1).Google Scholar

⁷⁵ Olympic Charter, supra note 66, rule 16.1.2.

⁷⁶ See Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA), FIFA Statutes (Zurich: Fédération Internationale de Football Association, 2016), art 26.1 [FIFA Statutes].Google Scholar

⁷⁷ See Bousfield, Dan & Michel Montison, Jean, “Transforming an International Organization: Norm Confusion and the International Olympic Committee” (2012) 15 Sport in Society 823 at 825–26.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁷⁸ Geeraert, Arnout, Sports Governance Observer 2015: The Legitimacy Crisis in International Sports Governance (Aarhus: PlaytheGame, 2015), online: <https://www.playthegame.org/knowledge-bank/downloads/sports-governance-observer-2015/7fd77e86-1f84-4d77-b19d-a9ce00b1c2b8>;Google Scholar Pielke, Roger Jr, “How Can FIFA Be Held Accountable?” (2013) 16 Sport Management Review 255; Gauthier, supra note 62 at 4–6, 66–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁷⁹ World Anti-Doping Agency, Constitutive Instrument of Foundation of the Agence Mondiale Antidopage/World Anti-Doping Agency (2014), art 6, online: <https://www.wada-ama.org/sites/default/files/resources/files/WADA-Revised-Statutes-4-July-2014-EN.pdf >..>Google Scholar

⁸⁰ Lewis, Adam et al, Challenging Sports Governing Bodies (West Sussex, UK: Bloomsbury, 2016) at 37–43; Gauthier, supra note 62 at 58–63.Google Scholar

⁸¹ Gauthier, supra note 62 at 138–45, in regard to hosting the Olympic Games.

⁸² Allen Guttmann, “Sport, Politics and the Engaged Historian” 38:3 Journal of Contemporary History 363 at 371–72.

⁸³ O’Neill, Barbara, “International Sports: Have States Succeeded Athletes as the Players?” (1988) 6 Dickinson J Intl L 403 at 413;Google Scholar Nafziger, James AR & Strenk, Andrew, “The Political Uses and Abuses of Sports” (1977–1978) 10 Conn L Rev 259 at 260. For a political look at the modern games, seeGoogle Scholar Boykoff, Jules, Power Games: A Political History of the Olympic Games (Brooklyn: Verso, 2016).Google Scholar

⁸⁴ IOC, ed, The Speeches of President Avery Brundage (Lausanne: IOC, 1968) at 10.

⁸⁵ Nafziger, “International Sports Law,” supra note 45 at 498. For a discussion on the effectiveness of the boycott, see Douglas Booth, “Hitting Apartheid for Six? The Politics of the South African Sports Boycott” (2003) 38:3 Journal of Contemporary History 477.

⁸⁶ Christopher Boden, “IOC’s Bach Says Sports and Politics Do Mix,” San Diego Tribune (20 September 2014), online <http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-iocs-bach-says-sports-tied-to-politics-2014sep20-story.html>.

⁸⁷ Houlihan, Barrie, Sport and International Politics (Hertfordshire, UK: Harvester Wheatsheaf, 1994) at 21.Google Scholar

⁸⁸ Murray, Stuart & Pigman, Geoffrey A, “Mapping the Relationship between International Sport and Diplomacy” (2014) 17:9 Sport in Society 1098 at 1101 (discussing various examples).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁸⁹ Jules Boykoff has written extensively on this topic. See e.g. Boykoff, Jules, Activism and the Olympics: Dissent at the Games in Vancouver and London (New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 2014) at 165 (describing anti-Olympic activism as less directed at the games per se than as a “moment of movements”); see alsoGoogle Scholar Lenskyj, Helen, Inside the Olympic Industry: Power, Politics, and Activism (Albany, NY: State University of New York Press, 2000).Google Scholar

⁹⁰ Grix, Jonathan, Sport Politics: An Introduction (London: Palgrave, 2016) at 39–41:CrossRefGoogle Scholar “The ‘Nazi Olympics’ (or ‘Hitler Olympics’) is widely recognized as the first and most blatant use of sport for political purposes.”

⁹¹ O’Neill, supra note 83 at 414; Baker, Catherine, “Beyond the Island Story?: The Opening Ceremony of the London 2012 Olympic Games as Public History” (2014) 19 Rethinking History: The Journal of Theory and Practice 409.Google Scholar

⁹² See van Hilvoorde, Ivo, Elling, Agnes & Stokvis, Ruud, “How to Influence National Pride? The Olympic Medal Index as a Unifying Narrative” (2010) 45 Intl Rev Sociology Sport 87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁹³ The hosting of the Olympics by Rome (1960), Tokyo (1964), and Munich (1972) are seen as a “rehabilitation” of the Second World War “Axis Powers” in the international community. Black, David R & Van Der Westhuizen, Janis, “The Allure of Global Games for ‘Semi-Peripheral’ Polities and Spaces: A Research Agenda” (2004) 25 Third World Quarterly 1195 at 1206.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁹⁴ Houlihan, Barrie & Zheng, Jinming, “Small States: Sport and Politics at the Margin” (2015) 7:3 J Sport Policy & Politics 329 at 333.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁹⁵ Chappelet & Kubler-Mabbott, supra note 63 at 130.

⁹⁶ 10 June 1958, 330 UNTS 38. For an example of a CAS award upheld by a domestic jurisdiction, see Gaitlin v US Anti-Doping Agency, 2008 WL 2567657 (ND Fla 2008), which found that even though the CAS award was “arbitrary and capricious,” the award should be upheld.

⁹⁷ Case 36/74, Walrave and Koch, [1974] ECR 1405 (finding that sport was subject to European Union (EU) law insofar as it constitutes an “economic activity”); Mutu et Pechstein c Suisse, Appl nos 40575/10 and 67474/10, ECHR 324 (2 October 2018) (applying the European Convention on Human Rights to mandatory arbitration clauses and to the organization and procedures of the CAS); see also Weatherill, Stephen, Principles and Practice in EU Sports Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2017) at 91–92 (discussing the “conditional autonomy” of sport under EU law).Google Scholar

⁹⁸ Nafziger, James AR, “International Sports Law” in Nafziger, James AR & Ross, Stephen F, eds, Handbook on International Sports Law (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2011) 3 at 14–15;CrossRefGoogle Scholar Mitten, Matthew J & Opie, Hayden, “Sports Law: Implications for the Development of International, Comparative, and National Law and Global Dispute Resolution” (2010) 85 Tul L Rev 269 at 315;Google Scholar Beloff, Michael J, Kerr, Tim & Demetriou, Marie, Sports Law (Oxford: Hart, 1999) at 7–12.Google Scholar

⁹⁹ McLaren, Richard H, “The Court of Arbitration for Sport” in Nafziger, James AR & Ross, Stephen F, eds, Handbook on International Sports Law (Cheltenham, UK: Edward Elgar, 2011) 32 at 47–50.Google Scholar

¹⁰⁰ Duval, Antoine, “The ‘Victory’ of the Court of Arbitration for Sport at the European Court of Human Rights: The End of the Beginning for the CAS,” Asser International Sports Law Blog (10 October 2018), online: <http://www.asser.nl/SportsLaw/Blog/post/the-victory-of-the-court-of-arbitration-for-sport-at-the-european-court-of-human-rights-the-end-of-the-beginning-for-the-cas>.Google Scholar

¹⁰¹ Ruggie, John G, “For the Game: For the World,” FIFA and Human Rights (2016) at 36–37, online: <https://www.hks.harvard.edu/sites/default/files/centers/mrcbg/programs/cri/files/Ruggie_humanrightsFIFA_reportApril2016.pdf>; Gauthier, supra note 62 at 84–86.Google Scholar

¹⁰² CAS, Code of Sports-related Arbitration, supra note 69 at R58.

¹⁰³ USOC and USA Canoe/Kayak/IOC, CAS Ad Hoc Division OG 00/001 (2000) at para 19 (citing Nottebohm Case (Liechtenstein v Guatemala), [1955] ICJ Rep 1).

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

¹⁰⁵ Angel Perez/International Olympic Committee, CAS Ad Hoc Division OG 00/005 (2000) at para 6.

¹⁰⁶ Ibid at paras 14–17.

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.

¹¹⁸ Houlihan, supra note 87 at 71.

¹¹⁹ Ibid at 71–72.

¹²⁰ Dennis, Mike & Grix, Jonathan, Sport under Communism: Behind the East German ‘Miracle’ (Basingstoke, UK: Palgrave, 2012) at 19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹²¹ O’Neill, supra note 83 at 418.

¹²² Ibid.

¹²³ Houlihan, supra note 87 at 72.

¹²⁴ Grix, supra note 90 at 42.

¹²⁵ See e.g. Eckstein, Ruth, “Ping Pong Diplomacy: A View from Behind the Scenes” (1993) 2:3 J American-East Asian Relations 327;CrossRefGoogle Scholar Itoh, Mayumi, The Origin of Ping-Pong Diplomacy (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011).CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹²⁶ O’Neill, supra note 83 at 419; Houlihan, supra note 87 at 74–75.

¹²⁷ Mastrocola, Paul, “The Lords of the Rings: The Role of Olympic Site Selection as a Weapon against Human Rights Abuses: China’s Bid for the 2000 Olympics” (1995) 15 Boston College Third World LJ 141 at 147;Google Scholar O’Neill, supra note 83 at 419.

¹²⁸ IOC, Olympic Review (Lausanne: IOC, 1979) at 562.

¹²⁹ Chan, Gerald, “The ‘Two-Chinas’ Problem and the Olympic Formula” (1985) 58 Pub Aff 473 at 481.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹³⁰ Ren-Guey v Olympic Games, 72 AD 2d 439, 424 NYS 2d 535 (App Div 1980), aff ’d, Ren-Guey v Lake Placid 1980 Olympic Games, Inc, 49 NY 2d 771, 403 NE 2d 178, 426 NYS 2d 473 (App Ct 1980). During the 1984 Los Angeles Summer Olympics, there was a lawsuit that sought to compel the recognition of the Baltic states. Individuals from Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania sought to participate in the various cultural events related to the games. These entities were represented by the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics at the games. Similar to Ren-Guey, the court found that the issue was non-justiciable as a political question. Spindulys v Los Angeles Olympic Organizing Committee, No B009941 (Cal Ct Appm, 3 December 1985).

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

¹³² Grzybowski, supra note 24 at 427–28.

¹³³ Lekakis, Nikos, “Can Football Loosen the ‘Gordian Knot’ in Cyprus?” (2015) 7:2 Intl J Sport Policy & Politics 255 at 267.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹³⁴ Ibid at 270.

¹³⁵ Summers, James, “Kosovo” in Christian Walter, Antje von Ungern-Sternberg & Kavus Abushov, eds, Self-Determination and Secession in International Law (Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2014) 235 at 236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

¹³⁶ Although the lines between republic and province had become blurred by that point, so this issue is somewhat unclear. Ibid at 237.

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

¹⁴⁷ Giulianotti et al, supra note 6 at 131.

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

¹⁸⁵ Ibid.

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

¹⁹⁸ Kaufmann-Kohler, Gabrielle, “Arbitral Precedent: Dream, Necessity or Excuse?” (2007) 23:3 Arbitration International 357 at 358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

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>.

²⁰⁸ Chaplin, Mark, “‘Exciting Period’ in Prospect,” UEFA (4 December 2014), online: <https://www.uefa.com/insideuefa/about-uefa/executive-committee/news/newsid=2191323.html>.Google Scholar

²⁰⁹ Walker, Shaun, “Football in Crimea: The Club Split in Two by Russia’s Invasion,” The Guardian (11 June 2018), online: <https://www.theguardian.com/world/2018/jun/11/crimea-football-russia-annexation-divided-tavria-simferopol>.Google Scholar

²¹⁰ NF Board, “Football Associations Members of the N.F.-Board,” N.F. Board (22 April 2017), online: <http://nfbwebsite.wixsite.com/nfboard/fa>..>Google Scholar

²¹¹ CONIFA, “FAQ” (accessed 24 July 2018), online: <http://www.conifa.org/en/about-us/faq/>..>Google Scholar

²¹² CONIFA, “CONIFA Members” (accessed 24 July 2018), online: <http://www.conifa.org/en/members/>..>Google Scholar

²¹³ Kosovo remains the only former Yugoslav republic without a top-level domain name, while the .yu domain for Yugoslavia was deleted in 2010. Anat Ben-David, “What Does the Web Remember of Its Deleted Past? An Archival Reconstruction of the Former Yugoslav Top-Level Domain” (2016) 18:7 New Media and Society 1103 at 1103, 1108.

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

²¹⁵ Quoted in Kirner, Julia, “What Next for Sports in Kosovo?” Kosovo 2.0 (22 March 2017) online: <http://kosovotwopointzero.com/en/next-sports-kosovo/>.Google Scholar

²¹⁶ For more, see Shachar, Ayelet, “Picking Winners: Olympic Citizenship and the Global Race for Talent” (2011) 120 Yale LJ 2088.Google Scholar

²¹⁷ Nafziger, James AR, “Rights and Wrongs of and About Nationality in Sports Competition” in Paulussen, C et al eds, Fundamental Rights in International and European Law (The Hague: TMC Asser Press, 2016) 309 at 321, 322.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

²¹⁸ IOC, Official Report of the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games: Nanjing 2014 (2015) at 26–27, online: <https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/Games/YOG/Summer-YOG/YOG-Nanjing-2014-Youth-Olympic-Games/Official-Report-Nanjing-2014.pdf#_ga=2.62080302.388388695.1497471844-1153672533.1493935285>..>Google Scholar

²¹⁹ Grix, supra note 90 at 103.

²²⁰ Duval, supra note 64.