The Conference
The problem
More than other human activities, sports (and with them sports law) are intrinsically based on some of the highest values of humanity, such as freedom, democracy, solidarity, pluralism, equality, pacifism, fair play etc. As any other human activity, though, also sports are permeable to the most disparate forms of corruption of such values, well exemplified by doping, which affects (or, rather, infects) the deepest roots of sportsmanship by subverting its most valuable meanings and principles and by insinuating illegality and injustice in sports. Moreover, other ethical and criminal distortions are increasingly threatening sports, such as bribery, tax fraud, match-fixing, drug and human trafficking, often facilitated by the many progresses and technologies of globalisation, together with the ever-increasing circulation of persons, assets and knowledge typical of the global era.
Objectives and expected outcomes
The conference aims at providing a thorough analysis of such situation in a global and inter-disciplinary perspective, assuming doping as a paradigmatic case study, not only because of its worldwide relevance, but especially because it is emblematical of the problematic boundaries between values and disvalues, legality and illegality, immorality and crime.
The immediate expected outcome of the conference is, of course, the collection of ideas and suggestions in order to restore the proper role of sports as a means of education to and promotion of not only sportsmanship values but also ethic and civil values and, above all, legality. As for some more indirect outcomes, the conference is expected, on the one hand, to serve, in itself, as an opportunity to promote such values and, on the other hand, to establish and foster a dialogue between experts and professionals of different disciplinary areas (pharmaceutics, human movement and medical sciences, psychology, pedagogy, law etc.) in view of future occasions of factual collaboration and projects aimed at the same value-oriented objectives.
Some of the specific topics of the conference are:
- the problem of the individuation of a nucleus, as much global as possible, of human values and rights to serve as common foundations both of the sport (also legal) system and of the State legal system (with special regard to the criminal justice sub-system);
- the philosophical and legal problem of the boundaries between disciplinary offences and criminal offences (and, more deeply, between morals and crime) in sports;
- the problem of the distinction, both from a medical-pharmaceutical point of view and from a legal perspective, between legitimate use of drugs in sports as a therapeutic device and the misuse of such substances in order to enhance one’s own physical performances unfairly and illegally;
- the many interrelations between doping and other (also transnational) criminal traffics, such as drug dealing, or forms of corruption (broadly considered) in sports;
- the possible methodologies of education to values and legality in sports and through sports in a psychological and pedagogical perspective, also with regard to other countries’ experiences.
Methodology
The methodology of the conference will favour the dialogue and the direct confrontation between panelists and between them and the audience, with the aim of fostering the exchange of knowledge of different scientific and professional fields as well as the experience of different countries and agencies. Thus, rather then a series of lengthy frontal presentations, the conference will split in several short sessions of presentations followed each by a dedicated moment for questions and discussion. The sessions will be dealing each with a different thematic area, possibly arranged in order to facilitate the introduction of the audience (and the panellist) into the specificity of each topic.
More than other human activities, sports (and with them sports law) are intrinsically based on some of the highest values of humanity, such as freedom, democracy, solidarity, pluralism, equality, pacifism, fair play etc. As any other human activity, though, also sports are permeable to the most disparate forms of corruption of such values, well exemplified by doping, which affects (or, rather, infects) the deepest roots of sportsmanship by subverting its most valuable meanings and principles and by insinuating illegality and injustice in sports. Moreover, other ethical and criminal distortions are increasingly threatening sports, such as bribery, tax fraud, match-fixing, drug and human trafficking, often facilitated by the many progresses and technologies of globalisation, together with the ever-increasing circulation of persons, assets and knowledge typical of the global era.
Objectives and expected outcomes
The conference aims at providing a thorough analysis of such situation in a global and inter-disciplinary perspective, assuming doping as a paradigmatic case study, not only because of its worldwide relevance, but especially because it is emblematical of the problematic boundaries between values and disvalues, legality and illegality, immorality and crime.
The immediate expected outcome of the conference is, of course, the collection of ideas and suggestions in order to restore the proper role of sports as a means of education to and promotion of not only sportsmanship values but also ethic and civil values and, above all, legality. As for some more indirect outcomes, the conference is expected, on the one hand, to serve, in itself, as an opportunity to promote such values and, on the other hand, to establish and foster a dialogue between experts and professionals of different disciplinary areas (pharmaceutics, human movement and medical sciences, psychology, pedagogy, law etc.) in view of future occasions of factual collaboration and projects aimed at the same value-oriented objectives.
Some of the specific topics of the conference are:
- the problem of the individuation of a nucleus, as much global as possible, of human values and rights to serve as common foundations both of the sport (also legal) system and of the State legal system (with special regard to the criminal justice sub-system);
- the philosophical and legal problem of the boundaries between disciplinary offences and criminal offences (and, more deeply, between morals and crime) in sports;
- the problem of the distinction, both from a medical-pharmaceutical point of view and from a legal perspective, between legitimate use of drugs in sports as a therapeutic device and the misuse of such substances in order to enhance one’s own physical performances unfairly and illegally;
- the many interrelations between doping and other (also transnational) criminal traffics, such as drug dealing, or forms of corruption (broadly considered) in sports;
- the possible methodologies of education to values and legality in sports and through sports in a psychological and pedagogical perspective, also with regard to other countries’ experiences.
Methodology
The methodology of the conference will favour the dialogue and the direct confrontation between panelists and between them and the audience, with the aim of fostering the exchange of knowledge of different scientific and professional fields as well as the experience of different countries and agencies. Thus, rather then a series of lengthy frontal presentations, the conference will split in several short sessions of presentations followed each by a dedicated moment for questions and discussion. The sessions will be dealing each with a different thematic area, possibly arranged in order to facilitate the introduction of the audience (and the panellist) into the specificity of each topic.