Il diritto europeo dello sport, tra specificità, rilevanza economica e motivi imperativi di interesse generale

European Sports Law, between Specificity, Economic Relevance and Overriding Reasons of General Interest The most recent European case law has, once again, raised the question on whether sports law can be regarded as an original and separate branch of legal systems. At European level, sports law is deeply integrated in the legal system and, therefore, it is subject to its regula- tions. This phenomenon is however mitigated by the social function of sport, which, together with technical regulations, provides an important area of legislative, organizational and judicial autonomy to sports law. The ordering principle between sports law and the European legal system is thus identified in the principle of proportionality. This principle is suitable on the one hand to identify the limits of the interference of the national legal system and, on the other, to ‘measure’ and justify the extent of the exceptions granted to sports law.