Budapest conference focuses on sport, law and competition

BUDAPEST, October 4, 2011 - Just 300 days before the official opening ceremony of the London Olympic Games it was ideal to discuss the various issues of sport and law in the ambit of an international conference at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences in Budapest.

At the end of July 2012 the Games of the XXX Olympiad will begin in London. This is the world's foremost sport competition which centres the globe's attention on a small group of athletes trying to accomplish their lifetime dream of becoming Olympic Champions. During these 16 days everybody will speak about results, scores or records. Nevertheless today's sport has also serious legal implications which are equally important and sometimes even overshadow the actual athletic performances.

The Olympics-Competition-Sports-Law International Conference held in Budapest on September 29 and 30, was divided into two separate parts, dealing with the competition law aspects of sport on the first day, while covering general sports law issues on the second day. The selection of speakers guaranteed that a wide range of problems were touched upon with the possibility to show different perspectives.
Among others, the following speakers gave presentation: Mr. Zsolt Borkai, President of the Hungarian Olympic Committee (lecture on The Challenges of Hungarian Sport, the Involvement of Non-govermental Institutions), Mr. Attila Czene, State Secretary of Sport, Ministry of National Resources (New System of Sport Financing in Hungary), Mr. Richard Pound, Member of the International Olympic Committee, Board Member of WADA (Doping in Sport – the Theoretical, Practical and Legal Challenges).

Mr. Matthieu Reeb, the Secretary General of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (The Court of Arbitration for Sport: Recent Developments and Future Perspectives), Mr. Howard Stupp, Director of Legal Affairs of the International Olympic Committee (The Evolution of Legal Issues Affecting Sport and the Olympic Movement), Mr. Nick Fitzpatrick, Partner of the DLA PIPER London (The Experience of Selling Sport Broadcasting Rights from the Aspect of a Private Practitioner), Ms. Ildikó Mihók, Marketing and Communication Director of the Hungarian Olympic Committee (Who Owns the Athlete?) and Mr. Zsigmond Nagy, Director of International Affairs of the Hungarian Olympic Committee, main coordinator of the conference (The Athletes' Contract : Olympians' Contractual Rights and Obligations).

The main patron of the event was Mr. Zsolt Borkai, President of the Hungarian Olympic Committee. The conference was organised by the Hungarian Olympic Committee, the Hungarian Society of Sport Science, the Hungarian Academy of Sciences, the Sportjus Sport Law Association, the Pázmány Péter Catholic University and the International Fair Play Committee. Several National Olympic Committees accepted our invitation and attended the conference such as Qatar, Poland, Serbia, Montenegro, Luxemburg, Malta, Austria, Latvia, etc.

(Source: AIPS)