ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the powers used by sport associations in sport governance. It argues that with the help of moral autonomy and legal autonomy, sport associations impose their regulatory, adjudicatory and enforcement powers. These powers are cumulatively called ‘RAE powers’. With the help of their regulatory powers, sport associations lay down norms on political expression, and their adjudicatory powers interpret and apply these norms. Finally, sport associations enforce the norms and decisions of the adjudicatory bodies. Due to the presence of the RAE powers, there could be an overlap of the legal orders of states, the transnational orders that these states create, international courts and the RAE powers of sport associations. The chapter posits that while the legal order of the state and the normative orders of sport associations sometimes cooperate, the latter has the potential to override the former in certain circumstances, especially concerning political expression. Moreover, in certain jurisdictions, the constitutional right to freedom of expression might not be applicable in the first place.
