Sports arbitration agreements under review: should they be considered invalid under English national law?

Arbitration agreements are currently an internationally much disputed topic. Especially the validity of sports arbitration agreements has been under review by academics in the aftermath of the Pechstein case in Germany. However, to date no English court has explicitly examined the validity of sports arbitration agreements on the grounds of the structural imbalance between athletes and sports federations. This article takes a step in that direction and considers whether principles of English law should render sports arbitration agreements invalid. It, therefore, analyses the legal doctrines of restraint of trade, duress, undue influence, unconscionable bargain and public policy. It concludes that none of these doctrines invalidate sports arbitration agreements per se. Nevertheless, other than the issues analysed in this article, English courts would also need to consider the particular arbitral tribunal’s procedural rules, as well as competition law and art. 6 ECHR. © 2017, T.M.C. Asser Instituut.