The IOC and Olympic Law: Scoping the Regulatory Space of the IOC

James, Mark ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6256-611X (2025) The IOC and Olympic Law: Scoping the Regulatory Space of the IOC. In: The Routledge Handbook on Sports Law and Governance. Routledge. ISBN 9781032598970 (In Press)

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Abstract

This chapter explores a specific and often under-explored area of transnational sports law: Olympic law. It begins by defining the parameters of the Olympic legal framework and distinguishing between the origins and functions of lex Olympica and Olympic law by identifying the key foundational documents at the heart of both regulatory systems. Having established their separate purposes, the chapter explores how both sources of law operate as governance structures for the legal regulation of the Olympic Games in two specific fields. First, it will examine the restrictions imposed on athletes’ ability to exploit their participation in the Olympics for their own commercial benefit and the wider legality of Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter. Secondly, it will interrogate the International Olympic Committee’s commitment to protect, respect and provide remedies for the abuse of human rights at the Olympic Games by examining the impact of Rules 40.2 and 50.2 of the Olympic Charter. It will conclude that the importance of the Olympic legal framework is in its ability to act as a template for sports governance, but that it is not yet providing the leadership that the Olympic Movement should be expecting of it.