Using Mediation to Get NHL Players Back in the Winter Olympics

Authors

Jared Brover, Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law

Abstract

In the early years of the Winter Olympics ("Olympics"), participation in the games was limited to amateur athletes. That changed in 1986 when rules were put in place, which changed who determined eligibility to compete in the Olympics. Eventually, as a result of such a shift, professional athletes began participating in the Olympics and they brought greater excitement to the games as fans were given another opportunity to see their favorite athletes compete at a high level. However, giving professional athletes the opportunity to join the games created unintended conflicts. For example, the dispute between a given country's professional league and the bodies governing the Olympics and Olympic participation. Disputes between professional sports leagues and the International Olympic Committee ("IOC") over athlete participation raise novel issues that would best be resolved using sophisticated dispute resolution tactics. A quintessential example of this is the dispute that is currently preventing professional hockey players in the United States from participating in the Olympics.

Keywords

Antitrust, Business and the Law, Olympics, Trade Regulation, Athletes, Citizenship

Disciplines

Antitrust and Trade Regulation | Dispute Resolution and Arbitration | Law

Recommended Citation

Jared Brover, Using Mediation to Get NHL Players Back in the Winter Olympics, 22 Cardozo J. Conflict Resol. 127 (2020).
Available at: https://larc.cardozo.yu.edu/cjcr/vol22/iss1/8