The relativity of consent in sports arbitration: principle, consequences and limits
Key information
- Date
- Time
-
6:00 pm to 7:00 pm
- Venue
- Online
- Event type
- Webinar
About this event
Join the SOAS Arbitration and Dispute Resolution Centre for the sports arbitration webinar.
Arbitration traditionally derives its legitimacy from the parties’ voluntary agreement to submit disputes to a private adjudicative process. In sports arbitration, consent is often more nuanced; athletes, clubs, and other stakeholders are typically bound by arbitration clauses incorporated into the rules and regulations of sports governing bodies, with participation in organised sport frequently conditioned upon acceptance of those rules.
As a result, continued acceptance of sports arbitration depends not solely on consent, but increasingly on the fairness, independence, and integrity of the adjudicative system itself, as illustrated by recent national and international caselaw.
Image credit: Scott Graham on Unsplash.
About the speaker
Isabelle Fellrath has over 25 years of experience in domestic and international commercial and investment arbitrations, acting as counsel, expert, and arbitrator across various institutions, including CAS. She sat as an arbitrator in the CAS Ad Hoc Division for the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and has served as an Adjunct Judge at the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. She currently sits in ethics cases at the Swiss Sport Tribunal and chairs the European Aquatics Integrity Unit's Adjudicatory Body. She teaches at the Universities of Glasgow and Lausanne and holds a Swiss LLB, UK LLM, and PhD. She practises in French, English, and Italian.
