Drawing on the expertise of leading academics and practitioners, this Research Handbook provides comprehensive analysis of the EU's involvement in sport. Structured around the key themes used by the EU Commission in the field of sport, namely sport in society, the economic dimension of sport and the organization of sport, this Research Handbook is the definitive assessment of modern EU sports law and policy. The initial contributions explore the origins and sources of EU sports law and policy to provide context, while the remaining chapters address the Commission's key themes. Contributors explore the key cases shaping EU sports law, such as Walrave, Bosman and Meca-Medina, whilst also assessing the key contemporary issues concerning the relationship between sport and the EU. Demonstrating how and why sport can make a difference to the socio-economic well-being of the EU, this Research Handbook will be stimulating reading for sports lawyers and administrators as well as students of sports law, sports policy and sports business, and politicians and civil servants in this sector. Contributors include: J. Anderson, W. Andreff, S. Boyes, A. Cattaneo, J.-L. Chappelet, C. Coors, N. De Marco, M. de Wolff, B. Garcia, J. Kornbeck, S. O'Conaill, L. O'Leary, R. Parrish, N. Partington, K. Pijetlovic, S. Schenk, E. Szyszczak, A. Tsoukala, S. Van den Bogaert, A. Vermeersch, S. Weatherill

The Sporting Exception in European Union Law is the definitive account of EU sports law. It provides a modern legal framework based on an analysis of major European Court of Justice judgments including Walrave (1974), Don... (1976), Bosman (1995), Deliege (2000), Lehtonen (2000), Kolpak (2003), Piau (2005) and Meca-Medina (2006). It also provides advanced commentary on the major sports-related competition decisions of the European Commission. Broadcasting issues, rules affecting player mobility and issues of sports governance are analysed, as are current issues in EU sports law including the Oulmers case, home-grown players, players' agents, the Services Directive, the Audiovisual Media Services Directive, the 2006 Independent European Sports Review, the 2007 Commission White Paper on Sport, the Reform Treaty and prospects for social dialogue. The work is a resource for academics, lawyers and sports administrators and students of sports law and EU law programmes.

With a Foreword by Dr Michal Krejza, Head of Sport Unit, Directorate-General for Education and Culture, European Commission, Brussels Much has changed since the publication of Professional Sport in the EU: Regulation and Re-regulation (edited by Andrew Caiger and Simon Gardiner, The Hague, T.M.C. Asser Press 2000). The present book explores new territory and its scope and tone reflect the maturity of the discipline of EU sports law and policy. The book seeks to balance contributions from established authorities and the best of the new generation of sports law and policy academics. New theoretical insights are revealed which accompany in particular two further sections dealing first with governance and regulatory issues (also including freedom of movement and competition law issues) and second with questions of representation. The issue of the representation of stakeholders within sports governance structures (Social Dialogue between employers/clubs and employees/players) is arguably the most significant development in the last decade and the inclusion of the word 'Representation' in the title is merited. Contributions on anti-doping, football hooliganism and sports betting are added to the book. The editing team consisted of Simon Gardiner, Leeds Metropolitan University, United Kingdom, Richard Parrish, Edge Hill University, Ormskirk, United Kingdom, and Robert Siekmann, ASSER International Sports Law Centre, The Hague, The Netherlands. This book appears in the ASSER International Sports Law Series, under the editorship of Robert Siekmann and Janwillem Soek.

With a Foreword by Roger Blanpain, Professor in Labour Law, Universities of Leuven (Belgium) and Tilburg (The Netherlands) and co-founder and first President of FIFPro. Publicly, at least, there appears to be a strong collective will within football to clean up the game, to make the work of players' agents more transparent and to allow a greater share of the game's profits to stay within the game. Privately, there seems to be unease that current agent regulation is out of step with football industry norms and that if the sector is to operate effectively, practices which are prohibited by the rules should in fact be tolerated. Here lies the problem. Stringent agent regulation may well look impressive but over-regulation will merely compound the problem of non-compliance and a lack of transparency. Finding the balance which not only addresses the problems facing football and satisfies the supporters and other interested stakeholders but which also satisfies the requirements of national, EU and international law is just one of the many challenges facing football's governing bodies. What are players' agents? Why should they be regulated? How should they be regulated? These three apparently simple questions have been tackled throughout this book. The first question appears straightforward as agents perform similar functions throughout the world. However, as the contributions in the book reveal, the manner in which agents operate varies. The questions of why and how to regulate again reveals common themes but also considerable variations in patterns of regulation. In this connection, there are, in effect, three tiers of agent regulation: international law, national law and the law of the sports associations. This book covers the legal regulations governing players' agents in forty countries around the world, representing the major footballing constituencies including Argentina, Brazil, Mexico and Russia as well as the "Big Five" in Europe. Written by acknowledged experts, it provides a very useful and informative comparative survey. Indeed, this is a book, which all those involved in the administration of football clubs, particularly, coaches and managers, as well as players' agents themselves, and commercial, financial and legal advisers, can do hardly do without, as it will provide them with a constant and useful source of reference.

The increasing commercialization of sport raises important questions concerning regulation. The development of the European Union and the internationalization of sporting competition has added an international dimension to this debate. Yet sport is not only a business, it is a social and cultural activity. Can regulation at the EU level reconcile this tension? Adopting a distinctive legal and political analysis, this book argues that the EU is receptive to the claim of sport for special treatment before the law.

Even believers sometimes have doubts. Many followers have issues of faith at some point in their spiritual journeys. Some are content to ignore those questions, and eventually, their faith may wane. Even those who don't leave their churches do not have the spiritual lives they could have. Others, however, look to discover the reasons behind their doubts or other concerns and become stronger in their faith. In Hope for the Journey: Reflections of God's Faithfulness, author Richard Parrish MDiv helps believers work through their faith issues. Sometimes that requires a major overhaul of who we believe God to be. Through this devotional, Parrish shows us how to adopt a different view of the Deity and become closer to God, to know God, and not just in the religious sense. Questions for reflection help you think deeply about and internalize what you've read.