Organizing Committee

Message by the President
Mr. Georgios Lenos
President of Hellenic Sporting Spirit Committee, Lawyer, Greece

Athens, 8 July 2019

Dear Colleagues, Ladies and Gentlemen,

As President of the Organizing Committee of the IASL’s 25th International Sports Law Congress, I would like to inform you that we are ambitious for this conference to be an important event for the science of Sports Law, sport executives and sport professionals.

The sport in all its expressions, as body exercise, as entertainment, as education, even as a profession is eminently a field of sportsmanship and brotherhood and not of confrontation. The area of the non-rivalry regards that the winning of the match should be done only with fair and legitimate means, as its central idea is to reward effort and not only victory.

On the horizon of the Olympic Games, sport is coordinate as a whole, both nationally and globally.

As a member of the Hellenic Olympic Committee, whose concern is the very important case of the Olympic Games in the modern world, I assure you that our first priority is to secure the participation in the Games and generally in sport by overtaking any issue that may arise. To achieve this, the contribution of the laws and rules of both Sports Law and Lex Sportiva is decisive.

The existence of the law rules, with their prudential and suppressive function, contributes substantially to this goal, while the regulations of the involved international sport bodies clearly identify the landscape of this activity.

This means that the way under which the sporting process should be taking place and the behavior of every involved party, should be governed by the established principles of the Athletic Spirit and the Olympic Ideal.

Thus, whatever position we may hold, as managing members, athletes, coaches, trainers in all kinds of sports, gymnastics and racing clubs, associations, professional associations or federations, as well as their participation as referees, observers or doctors of competitions, as well as spectators of these events, we must adhere to the rules of the Sports Law, but also to the principles of sportsmanship, the traditions of sport and the Olympic ideal and, in general, the appropriate athletic behavior.

In Greece, the essence of the sporting spirit is governed by special provisions in conjunction with the provisions of the Olympic Charter, where the emerging cases are being considered by the Hellenic Committee of the Sporting Spirit. In order to ensure the sense of fairness in sport, we propose and hope that the Code of Athletic Ethics will be implemented, with specific regulations, various aspects and a similar structure and procedural rules for the operation of the Hellenic Committee of the Sporting Spirit.

The 25th Congress of Sport Law comes at the right time to look into the law and justice in sporting action, with a variety and diversity of experts and keynote speakers from all over the world.

We invite you to participate in the discussion of the specific issues of the conference and to experience our historical and beautiful city of Athens.

My Best regards,

Georgios Lenos