Sport is one of the essential features of modern life. In Germany around 27 million people are organised in more than 87,000 clubs. The campaign “Sport tut Deutschland gut” (Sport is good for Germany) of the Deutsche Sportbund (German Sports Association, now German Olympic Sports Association) aims to sensitise the public to the socio-political significance of organised sport. The European Union with a joint resolution of council and parliament announced the year 2004 as “European Year of Education through Sport”. It was intended to focus attention on the particular importance of sport within the area of education. This encompasses imparting values such as team spirit, solidarity and fairness. Additionally, the United Nations hopes that sport can contribute to the development of “a peaceful and better world”. Its plenary assembly proclaimed the year 2005 as International Year of Sport. Simultaneously, the professionalisation of and worldwide media attention placed upon sport has become an important feature of economic life, having at stake enormous values and investments. Leo Kirch spent 750 million DM (around 375 million Euros) to buy the TV-rights of the 2000/01 football season. The costs of the Olympic Games in Salt Lake City amounted to 1.32 billion US-Dollars. This economisation of sport endangers its autonomy. At the same time sport is more and more influenced by law. Thus, general legal rules apply to commercial sport as well as to its organisation and commercialisation: the legal fields range from constitutional rights to rules of commercial law. European community law is also gaining more and more importance. To mention only two instances which have come into the cross-hairs of European anti-trust law, the European Commission reviewed the sale of sport IP rights regarding new media and the public subsidising of Italian professional football. The regulations for the ticket sales for the Olympic Games in Athens which were approved by the commission are another example worth mentioning.

Sports law therefore is an important and current as well as an exciting field of law. Its particular charm follows from the interaction of all legal disciplines, among them law of association, labour law, law on damages, company law, commercial law, constitutional law, administrative law, criminal law and European law. Sports law can be seen as a typical inter-disciplinary issue. This leads to a more and more diverse jurisprudence and an increasing body of literature being authored nationally as well as internationally. Not infrequently, the consequence is a deficit of information. Additionally, one finds the need for interdisciplinary discussion. In the past these facts provided the impetus for a series of initiatives within the field of sports law including especially the establishment of the Konstanzer Arbeitskreis für Sportrecht e.V. (working group on sports law), the installation of a chair for sports law at the University of Bayreuth and the foundation of the Zeitschrift für Sportrecht “SpuRt” (Journal for Sports Law). These initiatives are geographically located mainly in the southern part of Germany.

The initiative presented here offers a forum for communication and information focussing on European and international sports law that is located in northern Germany. Once or twice a year presentations and conferences shall be organised. The forum is open to all lawyers in practice or engaged in research who are interested in sports law; individuals may ask to be included in a mailing list announcing upcoming events. Furthermore, this site provides a continuously updated bibliography on international sports law which is based upon an evaluation of the journals and monographs acquired by the Max Planck Institute in Hamburg. This bibliography is arranged according to the criteria used for German sports law at www.sportrecht.org (run by the chair for sports law at the University of Bayreuth). Additionally, this site contains a collection of internet references to relevant pages which address national and international sports law.

The idea for such a forum stems from Professor Dr. Ingo von Münch, former professor of public law with the University of Hamburg. The forum is supported by the counsel at the legal department and by two lawyers from Hamburg, Dr. Georg Engelbrecht and Dr. Mario Krogman, both working in the field of sports law. Members of the Institute who are involved are Florian Bruder, Professor Dr. Ernst-Joachim Mestmäcker, Dr. Axel Metzger and Dr. Wolfgang Wurmnest and the former members of the Institute Wenzel Bulst, Christian Eckl, Jan Kleinheisterkamp, Dr. Jens Scherpe, Dr. Heike Schweitzer, Dr. Jan Tolkmitt, Dr. Stephan Wagner and Heinz Weidt. The forum is also connected with the Bucerius Law School and members of the Max Planck Institutes in Heidelberg, Freiburg and Munich. For cost purposes, the forum site will initially be a sub-page of the Institute website and will be attended to by members of the Institute. Events will also be held at the Institute.
 
 
Hamburg, February 2004
 
Reinhard Zimmermann