By Kiran Kaur
With the Olympics taking the world by storm, have you ever stopped to wonder how the legal system ever plays into the games? On the outside, the idea of the world's best athletes all congregating in one city to compete with one another seems so far away from the rigid and intense world of law, however you might be surprised by just how closely tied the two worlds are! The intersection of law and the Olympics is a combination that heavily demonstrates how complex global sporting events and international organisations can be, with aspects of the law intertwining with aspects of governance, regulation, and international human rights. From the Olympic Charter to the diplomatic implications of the Olympics, the games are often riddled with legal issues, all of which will be discussed throughout this piece.
The Olympic Charter
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) aims to ensure fair and just outcomes for all athletes, through both their endorsement and creation of international legal institutions and through a document known as the Olympic Charter. The charter, created in 1908, “is the codification of the fundamental principles of Olympism” [1] and has often been relied on to decide the outcome of controversial moments throughout the Olympics' history. The charter serves 3 main purposes: establishing values and principles of Olympism, serving as the IOC’s law, and defining the rights and obligations of the three main constituents of the Olympic movement [2].
Olympism, as highlighted within the Charter, epitomises the philosophy of the Olympic Games. It places sport at the service of humanity, and centres itself around blending sport with culture, education, and international cooperation [3]. Throughout recent Olympic history, cheating scandals such as doping and other illegalities have become issues of concern. These acts threaten to compromise the sanctity of Olympism and undermine the very basis of this philosophy. The legal framework of the Olympic Charter intends to allow officials to enforce and regulate the drug use of athletes separate to their own bias and judgements. Furthermore, the regulations are consistently updated to reflect the modern day drugs and loopholes.
Legalities behind Doping
The fight against doping in the Olympics began in the 1960s, with the IOC supporting the formation of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) in 1999, prompting the introduction of further legal institutions to support existing legal documents [4]. The IOC plays a “strong role in terms of governance and funding the international fight against doping in sport” [5], and provided half of WADA’s budget. Further, the IOC was instrumental in the creation of both the International Testing Agency and the Court of Arbitration for Sport, ratifying the statutes of both institutions, and putting the protection of athletes and fair competition at the forefront of these organisations [6]. The effectiveness of the IOC and the enforcement of the Olympic Charter has been witnessed through various doping scandals throughout Olympic history, such as that of Marion Jone. Despite winning 3 gold medals and 2 bronze models in the 2000 Olympics, in 2007, following Jones’ guilty plea for using performance enhancing drugs during the games, the IOC stripped her of all 5 medals and forbade her from re-entering the Olympics in 2008. The sanctions placed on Jones and the message that the IOC sent to the global community demonstrated the commitment of the IOC to upholding the legal integrity of the Olympics and the fair nature of the Olympic Charter.
Olympics and Activism
Further, despite the emphasis that the Olympic Charter places on a lack of tolerance for discrimination based on politics, the Olympics remains a global stage where politics, social issues, and domestic laws intersect with one another to create an amalgamation of activism. Domestic laws of participant countries can sometimes be contradictory to the beliefs underpinning the notions of equality that the Olympic Charter aims to ensure. Prior to 2012, for example, Saudi Arabia forbade female athletes from competing in the Olympics, which directly contradicted Chapter 1, Rule 2 of the Charter. This rule states that one of the roles of the IOC is “to encourage and support the promotion of women in sport at all levels…”. Over the years there were calls from various human rights watch reports and news articles to ban Saudi Arabia from competing in the Olympics until women were allowed to compete, broadcasting the issue into the public domain. The intertwined nature of media and the Olympics allowed the IOC to pressure Saudi Arabia to send female athletes to the 2012 London Olympics, highlighting the ways in which domestic laws of participant countries and the laws governing the Olympics have the power to influence each other.
Furthermore, the Olympics can serve as a means to implicitly showcase human rights abuses within host countries. This was evident in the 2008 Beijing Olympics, which highlighted the human rights record of China and their policies in Tibet. Activists utilised the global nature of the Games to highlight these issues, protesting during the opening ceremony and interrupting the speeches of political leaders. Activists placed the Olympic rings as handcuffs and consistently advocated for boycotts of the games. The games became a platform for protests and a means through which individuals were able to raise awareness of human rights issues in the international community.
Conclusion
Through these examples, we see that the law and legal issues are embedded in every action and document that underpins and upholds the Olympic games. Through the IOC’s policies around doping and the use of the Olympic Charter to advocate for equality and fair outcomes, all the way to monitoring international law and human rights – the Olympic Games demonstrate the complex legal nature of global sporting events. In light of this, next time you watch the gymnastics, or the new and unique skateboarding routines, keep in mind the various legal frameworks that underpin and govern each athlete and participating country!
Endnotes
Olympic Charter. (n.d.). Paris 2024. Retrieved August 11, 2024, from https://olympics.com/ioc/olympic-charter
The Olympic Charter. (2018). Retrieved August 11, 2024, from https://www.americanbar.org/groups/public_education/publications/teaching-legal-docs/the-olympic-charter/
JUILLIART, R., & Warshaw, T. (2014). Olympism and the Olympic movement. Retrieved from https://stillmed.olympic.org/media/Document%20Library/OlympicOrg/Documents/Document-Set-Teachers-The-Main-Olympic-Topics/Olympism-and-the-Olympic-Movement.pdf
Olympic & Paralympic Committees. (2022, January 18). Retrieved August 11, 2024, from World Anti Doping Agency website: https://www.wada-ama.org/en/anti-doping-partners/olympic-paralympic-committees#:~:text=The%20IOC%20provides%20half%20of,Arbitration%20for%20Sport%20(CAS).
Ibid
Governing bodies and Recognised Organisations. (2024). Retrieved August 11, 2024, from Olympics.com website: https://olympics.com/ioc/cas
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