The International Sports Law Journal 2005, No. 3-4 - Asser Institute

Domestic laws and treaties and conventions to which Romania is a party
Ethics of empoyees in
the sports sector
Ethics of sportsman
Ethics of spectators
and fans
Figure 4
tive framework. We must accept therefore that legal relations in sports
combine both order in sports as such and order at state level, and that
their balance varies according to the political regime. 14 If we consider
the definition of ideology as a theory which has been put into operation
for political purposes, we find that in Romania this has yielded
the principle that no individual, no activity or domain is above the
law, or in accordance with Article 16, paragraphs 1 and 2, of the
Romanian Constitution on equality of rights: “Citizens of Romania
are equal in law and before public authorities without any privileges
and discrimination. Nobody is above the law.” This leads me to propose
Figure 4, a graphical representation of the necessity to subject to
ethical norms all conduct related to sports. Or, more specifically, taking
into account that (1) “practising physical education and sports is
a right of the individual, enjoyed without any discrimination and
guaranteed by the State, (2) the exercise of such a right is free and voluntary
and is carried out independently or within sporting structures
(Art. 295 of Law no. 69/2000 concerning Physical education and
sports, (3) the rights and obligations of sportsmen are generally fundamental
human rights and obligations, and that (4) “The constitutional
provisions relating to the rights and freedoms of citizens will be
interpreted and applied in accordance with the Universal Declaration
of Human Rights and with international pacts and treaties to which
Romania is a party” and further considering the fact that (5) “in case
of discrepancies between the international pacts and treaties on fundamental
human rights to which Romania is a party and the domestic
legislation, priority will be given to the international instruments,
except where the Constitution or the internal laws provide for more
favourable terms (Art. 20 of the Romanian Constitution) and that
“the Romanian state undertakes to fulfil entirely and in good faith the
duties under the treaties to which it is a party” and that “the treaties
ratified by the Parliament are, according to the law, part of the internal
legal system (Art. 11 (1) and (2) of the Romanian Constitution), I
propose the following graphical representation to illustrate the need
of subjecting all social norms (including ethical norms) to the legal
order (figure 4).
14 Alaphlipe, F., Sports....the third...millennium,
Chapter The Legitimacy and
Legality of the International Sporting
Structures, Sante-Foy (Laval University,
Canada) (1991), p. 505-512.
Protecting and Exploiting Sports
Image Rights*
by Ian Blackshaw **
❖
Introductory Remarks
We live in an age in which image rules and perception is paramount.
And this is not limited to celebrities, who are anxious to project their
persona, and thus maintain their celebrity status and popularity and,
in turn, their marketability. But the phenomenon also extends to
companies and their products, which, if they are to be successful in
our consuming and materialistic society, also need to convey a positive
image in order to command the attention of customers and
increase sales. This is all down to branding, whose importance nowadays
cannot be over emphasised and has been likened by Peter York,
the style guru, to a kind of new religion:
“The fastest-growing, most profitable, cleverest global corporations are
organised around a new philosophy, a new religion and a new way of
working. For these companies their brand is their central asset - physical
products are secondary - and most of their quality time is spent making
and reworking the brand - its meaning, attitude and social role, its values
- because it’s the brand that people buy, not the products. Products, so
the thinking goes, are generic, copyable, discountable, vulnerable, but
brands are unique magic.” 1
This philosophy has been successfully transferred and applied by
clever marketers to sport, sports events and sports persons as products
competing for consumer attention.
* This paper was presented at the
Asser/SENSE Seminars on “Sports
Image Rights in Europe: Law and
Practice”, which took place in Lisbon, 14
February, Amsterdam, 3 May, Munich, 1
June and London, 13 June 2005.
** Ian Blackshaw is an International Sports
Lawyer; Member of the Court of
Arbitration for Sport, Lausanne,
Switzerland; Visiting Professor at the
International Centre for Sports Studies
at Neuchatel University, Switzerland;
and the Co-Editor with Robert
Siekmann, Director of the International
Sports Law Centre of the TMC Asser
Instituut, of a new Book entitled, ‘Sports
Image Rights in Europe’ published by
the TMC Asser Press, The Hague, The
Netherlands. The author may be contacted
on ‘cblackshawg@aol.com’.
1 Article entitled “Branded”, ‘The Times’,
February 10, 2001.
42 2005/3-4
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