Structural and Functional Interaction between International Law and lex sportiva and Technical Methods of Transforming their Norms
Authors: Zakharova L. I. 
Published: October 2022

INTRODUCTION. The purpose of the article was to examine how two different regulatory entities - international sports law and lex sportiva - interact with each other in structural and functional terms. When characterizing the structural interaction, the author set herself the task of identifying the place of each of these normative complexes in the system of a larger whole. When analyzing functional interaction, the author viewed her task as considering the process in two aspects: static (delineation of the limits of regulatory influence) and dynamic (interference of regulatory efforts). As a result of studying the dynamic aspect of functional interaction, the techniques of incorporation, legitimation, and reference were characterized; the author gave the examples of the incorporation of the norms of the International standards adopted in addition to the World Anti-Doping Code into an international legal act - the 2005 UNESCO Convention against Doping in Sport, legitimation of the norms of the 2014 Council of Europe Convention against Manipulation of Sports Competitions through the adoption of the 2015 Code of the Olympic Movement on the Prevention of Manipulation of Competitions, and two types of reference: references to the World Anti-Doping Code in an international treaty - the 2005 UNESCO Convention against Doping in Sport of 2005 and references to international legal acts in the field of human rights in the FIFA Statutes (starting from 2016) and inthe FIFA Human Rights Policy of 2017.   MATERIALS AND METHODS. The author listed the applicable international legal acts and acts of lex sportiva, studied the scientific works of leading representatives of domestic and foreign doctrine on such issues as the criteria for recognizing a specific branch of international law, the subject of regulation and the nature of transnational law, the interplay between international law and lex sportiva. Among the general scientific methods the author utilized substrate (substantive), structural and systemic approaches; comparative and hermeneutic approaches should be mentioned as the specific scientific methods used.   RESEARCH RESULTS. As a result of the analysis of the structural interaction of the two regulatory orders, the author identified the place of international sports law in the system of international law and the place of lex sportiva in global law. When considering the static aspect of functional interaction based on the analysis of the content of the principle of autonomy of sport, a number of exclusive subjects of regulation by lex sportiva were identified. In the course of studying the dynamic aspect, the author characterized three types of transformation - the transfiguration of norms and their transition from one normative order to another - from the point of view of legal technique (incorporation, legitimation, reference).   DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS. In the author’s opinion, international sports law is a branch of public international law at the stage of its formation, and lex sportiva is an institution of transnational global law formed as a result of the activities of non-governmental actors. The study of the static aspect of the functional interaction between international sports law and lex sportiva indicates that the issues regulated by sports organizations in an autonomous manner include the establishment of rules for sports competitions, as well as issues of the internal life of sports organizations. The dynamics of transnational processes significantly expands the interaction between international sports law and lex sportiva and the transition (transformation) of norms from one regulatory complex to another in such areas as the fight against doping, countering the manipulation of sports competitions, introducing international legal standards in the field of human rights protection.