Lex sportiva

Like all concepts we employ in law and beyond, lex sportiva is inherently malleable and can capture different realities depending on the user and the context of use. This entry reviews various ways of using the concept of lex sportiva. The first relates to the use of the concept by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the context of its awards, the evolution of the practice of transnational sports law, and even in providing a wider conceptual justification of the CAS's decisions. The next sections are dedicated to two different uses of the concept in the academic setting, both relating to the specificity of the transnational governance and regulation of sports. The entry distinguishes between the use of lex sportiva as a way to emphasise the autonomy of a transnational legal order ruling international sports and its use in highlighting how sport is governed through a transnational legal assemblage. This entry opines that it is the latter approach which is the more fruitful from a descriptive and normative perspective.