Learning about fight against doping in Zurich

Over the month of July, I participated in the Global Short Program of International Sports Law at the University of Zurich in Switzerland. This program introduced students to the legal challenges in the fight against doping.

During first week of International Sports Law introduced us to the course, the World Anti-Doping Code and the anti-doping rule violations that athletes can be sanctioned with. Many guest speakers from the World Anti-Doping Agency, FIFA and the sports law legal industry lead these lectures. We attended the FIFA Museum in Zurich where we could participate in various soccer or football games and learn about the importance of the investigation process in detecting anti-doping violations in professional sport.

Outside of class, on the first weekend, Zurich was hosting Züri Fäscht, a big city festival that is hosted once every three years in Zurich. This was such a fun experience to get to know the other students better and experience a bit of the festival culture of Switzerland. On the Sunday, we hiked Mount Uetliberg which was a great experience.

In the second week of International Sports Law, we looked into the Arbitration process and the applicable legal framework of the adjudication and enforcement process. We then attended an academic trip to Lausanne to go to the Court of Arbitration in Sport and the Olympic Museum.

Other experiences that I during this time was a traditional Swiss Dinner and hanging out and swimming in Lake Zurich almost every day. On the second weekend, I travelled over to London, United Kingdom to a bit of travel. Switzerland is in such a convenient spot for travelling around Europe if you have the chance to study there.

In the final week of International Sports Law, our shift focused to our assessment which was the Moot Court proceedings. We were provided with the case details and annexures to the case and were given one and half days to prepare to plead before a panel of lawyers and legal academics. Unfortunately, we were not given the side we were representing till the day of the proceedings. We pleaded the case of the athlete before the panel.

We then attended the FIFA Headquarters to watch the finals of the moot court while in the FIFA conference room. Following this we attended the graduation ceremony and celebrated all that we had learnt throughout the course and the people we had met over the summer.

Thomas Drake
Faculty of Law
International Sports Law at the University of Zurich, Switzerland
Global Short Programs Travel Scholarship Recipient