ARBITRATO SPORTIVO INTERNAZIONALE E GARANZIE DEL GIUSTO PROCESSO

The article comments the ECHR’s decision on Mutu and Pechstein case in the wider framework of the relationship between international sport arbitration and Article 6 ECHR that regulates the right to a fair trial. Moving from the compatibility of Article 6 with compulsory and voluntary arbitration, which can be measured having regard to the relationship between the non-derogable right of access to justice and the autonomy of the parties to renounce a court established by law to devolve the dispute into arbitration, it examines how the arbitration choice justifies the waiver of the guarantees provided by Article 6. Furthermore, the article analyses how ECHR’s decision answers to the renewed doubts on the independence and impartiality of the TAS in the light of the need for a greater diversity in the composition of ICAS, with a majority of members not appointed directly by sports organizations and wider representation of the athletes.