A Study On Legal Issues Of Anti-discrimination In Sports Field

So far, the discrimination in sports has received little attention of the legal scholars. Discrimination affects not only the realization of sports right and other related rights, but also the human dignity. To control discrimination in sports through a variety of ways, it not only benefits for protecting sports right, but also meets the need for social progress. By means of studying the discrimination and anti-discrimination law in general, we take the specific a study on discrimination phenomenon and anti-discrimination measures in sports.As a study on this theory, the thesis will be divided into six chapters, with the introduction and ending part.The opening part is an introduction, which outlines the backgrounds and the significance of the current topic, surveys the status quo in this respect, and lists the approaches that will be employed in the thesis.The main part contains six chapters. ChapterⅠmakes an overarching analysis of discrimination and anti-discrimination law and its concrete embodiment in sports area. First, on the basis of the concept of discrimination, it lists various types of discrimination in sports and analyses their adverse effects, then summaries the different modes to regulate the discrimination by the international treaties, national legislations and Lex Sportiva.ChapterⅡdiscusses the legal issues on racial discrimination in sports area. First, it examines the racial discrimination phenomenon in sports. Some samples will illustrate that the racial discrimination in sports is a historical problem and will exist in the near future, such as the Olympic Games, United States and South Africa. Racial discrimination in sports is regulated by the coordination of law, policy and sports rules. The International Convention against Apartheid in Sports played an important role in the elimination of racial discrimination in sports. In the United States, there are four types of litigations on racial discrimination in sports. The United States and South Africa apply the affirmative action policies and measures for the ethnic minorities to make up for the damage caused by the racial discrimination in sports.Chapter III discusses the legal issues of gender discrimination in sports area. First, it examines the gender discrimination phenomenon in sports, pointing out that gender discrimination exists widespreadly in sports, for example the number of participants, sports programme, etc., now the gender discrimination act in sports is decreasing gradually. Then it discusses how to control the gender discrimination in sports, The Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women has played a positive role in sports. A lot of non-mandatory declarations and resolutions have passed in international community, which urge the international sports organizations and national sports organizations to eliminate gender discrimination. There are also some domestic laws to eliminate gender discrimination in sports. For example the Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 in United States. In addition, some sports organizations also institute some rules and measures to control the gender discrimination in sports. The litigations about gender discrimination in sports are mainly for participation, there is also a new type of litigation about the fight for women against gender discrimination and retaliation, It is difficult to distinguish the sexual harassment in sports, Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 are employed to control the sexual harassment in sports in United States.Chapter IV explains the legal issues of disability discrimination in sports area. First, it discusses the disability discrimination phenomenon in sports, it includes discrimination in participation, physical education and employment in sports. Then it discusses the curb of disability discrimination from the perspective of the international and domestic, and it points out that the Convention of the Rights of Persons with Disabilities has the rule about disability discrimination in sports, which makes the distinction the requirement of equal treatment between mainstream sporting and disability-specific sporting. Americans with Disabilities Act, as a domestic legislation, has played an important role in eliminating the disability discrimination in sports in the United States. Finally, it gives case analysis of the U.S. disability discrimination lawsuit in sports, which can be divided into three types, including qualification for professional sports, injuries and disability discrimination, disability discrimination in sports employment.Chapter V discusses the legal issues of the nationality discrimination, age discrimination and religious discrimination in the sports area. Nationality discrimination is currently limited to professional sports, especially in the EU professional sports. Age discrimination affects not only the eligibility of athletes, but also the eligibility of referees, coaches and other persons in sports, age discrimination in sports can be controlled through anti-discrimination law and antitrust law. Religious discrimination also exist in sport, however, the religious act will be restricted due to public safety or health considerations.Chapter VI discusses the legal issues of discrimination in the sports field of China. First, it analyzes of the existing discrimination phenomenon in China sports, indicating that the discrimination in China sports has its own characteristics, for example, there exists special discrimination against rural sports. The author discusses the anti-discrimination law in China apply in sports and analyze its shortcomings, points out that China does not have the Anti-discrimination Code, only some anti-discrimination provisions in some laws. However, there are few laws or legal provisions directly about anti-discrimination in sports. Finally, the author gives some proposals on the anti-discrimination in the field of sports, China needs to modify the Sports Law and adds anti-discrimination provisions. Sports organizations should also accept some anti-discrimination rules in their internal chapters, and establish the enforcement mechanisms to control and punish the discrimination act severely in sports.The conclusion is a short summery of this thesis, which points out the defects of the existing anti-discrimination laws in sports and the trends of its development.