The William S. Boyd School of Law at UNLV and the Saltman Center for Conflict Resolution present the 2024 Memorial Beecroft Lecture - Sports, Politics, & Human Rights: Who Decides? The lecture will be given by Professor Maureen Arellano Weston, Professor of Law and Director of the Entertainment, Media & Sports Dispute Resolution Project at Pepperdine University’s Caruso School of Law.

Arbitration is the designated and largely exclusive mechanism to resolve sports-related disputes, particularly in Olympic and international sports. The Olympic Charter designates the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) as the only dispute resolution institution for resolving sports-related international arguments between and among athletes, teams, and sport governing bodies from more than 200 countries, plus “individual neutral athletes” who compete without country affiliation.

The disputes before the CAS are not simply about who won or lost a game or match but instead have far-reaching implications related to politics, athlete abuse and safety, doping, corruption, and human rights.

Professor Weston’s lecture will examine private arbitration in the context of international sports. Among the questions she will consider are whether these private arbitration mechanisms should make decisions on matters with political and human rights implications, especially when these decisions involve consequences and protections of broader international human rights conventions. Professor Weston will discuss recent cases and issues in international sports arbitration leading up to the 2024 Summer Games in Paris.