This international conference was hosted by the National Sport Law Institute (http://law.marquette.edu/jw/nsli) at Marquette University Law School, in conjunction with the 9^th International Association of Sports Law Conference ( www.iasl.org). It was sponsored by American Appraisal Associates, the law firm of Foley and Lardner and sports facility development organisations College Town LLC and SheerGame Sports Development LLC. The National Sports Law Institute provides a Sports Law Certificate and a joint Postgraduate JD and MBA Programme ( http://law.marquette.edu/jw/slcourses). The NSLI publishes the internationally recognised Marquette Sports Law Review ( http://law.marquette.edu.jw/mslr) and other sports law publications ( http://law.marquette.edu/jw/pubs) and actively involves students in the development of the Review, which regularly includes international contributions.

The conference was well structured into several coherent presentation themes:

• Sports Facility Financing, Development and Safety
• Olympic and European Sports Stadium Safety Issues
• Drug Testing in Sport
• International Player Restraint and Competition Law
• Internationalization of Sports
• Acquisition, Sale and Movement of Sports Franchises in a Global Environment
• Resolution of Sports Disputes

It was a truly international conference, drawing a wide range of speakers from the USA, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, South Africa, Brazil, Italy, Australia, Russia, France and Greece. The combination of lawyers, solicitors, academics, students, policy makers, sports law organisations, marketing and public relations personnel, Court of Arbitration adjudicators and the knowledge and practical experience they all brought to the conference, positively enhanced a very well contextualised approach. Indeed, the last speaker of the conference, James Gray, a Milwaukee attorney and Associate Professor at Griffith University, emphasized the importance of our legal work making a difference and helping athletes in the challenges they faced in sport, where power relations were not equal.

There was a visible contingent from the United Kingdom, all speaking at the conference. Urvasi Naidoo, an ICC Lawyer, spoke on the challenges of facing a dispute resolution at the ICC Cricket World Cup 2003. Simon Gardiner, now Associate Professor at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia, presented on ‘Sports Corruption and Governance in Sport’. Jonathan Taylor, a Partner at Hammonds Solicitors in London, gave a paper on ‘The Wimbledon/FC/MK Dons Franchise Movement Case’, as well as covering the ‘Article 82 of European Competition Law applied to the Relationship between national and club teams’. Hazel Hartley, of Leeds Metroppolitan University, presented on ‘The Political Economy of Risk and Statutory Safety ‘Failures’ in a UK Sports Stadium Disaster’.

Additional events prior to and during the conference, demonstrated the intense activity, networking, and applied work of the NSLI, as well as strong links between academic and applied sports law, business and legal policy. These included a keynote presentation by Ulice Payne Jr., President and Chief Executive Officer of the Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club, a tour and dinner at Miller Park Stadium and the sports law international workshops. The N.S.L.I. Sports Law Workshops were presented at Marquette University Law School on 23 September. Dr. Steve Cornelius from Rand Afrikaans University, South Africa, presented on ‘Affirmative Action in Sports in South Africa’. Dr. Hazel Hartley, of Leeds Met. University, England, reviewed the Diane Modahl Doping Case 1996-2001. References on this case are included in the Learning Resource Guide and case study on the Learning and Teaching Support Network web site for Hospitality, Leisure, Sport and Tourism-see http://www.hlst.ltsn.ac.uk/projects/specialists/hartley.html.

The Eighth Annual Robert F. Boden Lecture on ‘Drugs in Sport and Law- Moral Authority, Diversity and the Pursuit of Excellence’ on 24 September, by Prof. Hadyn Opie, was entertaining and informative. Prof. Opie is visiting Professor to Marquette, from the University of Melbourne, Australia and is a pioneer in the development of the links between sport, law and medicine. These events, alongside the kind hospitality of the N.S.L.I, Prof. Matthew Mitten, Director of the N.S.L.I, Prof. Paul Anderson, and the Dean and Prof. of Law, Joe Kearney, provided extra opportunities for delegates to network with each other, Marquette students and staff and practitioners from a variety of sport law and business contexts.

One of the highlights was the presentation of the ‘Master of the Game’ award, to Donna De Verona, at a luncheon on Friday 26 September. Donna De Verona was the youngest swimming competitor at the 1960 Rome Olympics and broke 18 world swimming records at the 1964 Olympic Games. However, Donna found when she applied for a university sports scholarship, that they were not available to women. She went on to become the first female sports broadcaster, won, among others, an Emmy award and Gracie award for her broadcasting work, and served for four terms on the President’s Council on Physical Fitness. Donna was a founding member and first president of the Women’s Sports Foundation and was ‘a moving force in the Congress’ passage of the 1978 Amateur Sports Act and the landmark Title IX legislation’ (Master of the Game Award Luncheon Programme, 26 September, 2003).

Throughout the conference, the standard of papers was excellent and the questions and comments from the floor were lively and incisive, particularly in the areas of drug testing and dispute resolution. The ‘Drug Testing in Sport’ Panel was very entertaining and was the only group which actually operated in a true ‘panel’ format. It was chaired by Prof. Richard McLaren, member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Canada and at the Olympics. It included a very interesting ‘exchange’ between Richard Pound QC, President of the World Anti-Doping Agency (W.A.D.A) and John O’Leary, Senior Lecturer, Anglia Polytechnic University. There were common cases and issues linking this panel and the final theme of ‘Resolution of Disputes’. Cases receiving regular commentary included Radican, Baxter, Rebagliati, Modhal, Gasser, Krabbe and Kelly White. One of the ‘hot topics’ in ‘drugs in sport’, which drew considerable comment both from speakers and delegates alike, was the rule of strict liability and the W.A.D.A. Code adopted in Copenhagen in 2003.

Several delegates made critical points from the floor, regarding the application of the rule of strict liability and the punishments of loss of medal(s) and suspension to an athlete who was not at fault. For example, at the discretion of a doping panel it is possible to lose medals but not be suspended, or at least have the suspension reduced, if it was proved someone spiked a recreational drink or a manufacturer of a protein supplement included a banned substance in the product unknown to the consuming athlete. However, it was still considered quite harsh, by some delegates, to punish at all, in such proven circumstances. It was reported that pseudo-ephedrines would be removed from the W.A.D.A. banned list, which will come into force on January 1, 2004, but their use would still be monitored in some way. There was also an interesting discussion on the last day of the conference following the ‘Resolution of Sports Disputes’ panel as to whether or not Article 6 of the ECHR and the HRA, ‘the right to a fair and public hearing in criminal or civil matters/trials’ did or should apply to the sports disciplinary process.

There was such a range of fascinating papers and informal discussions that it is very difficult, within the word limit of this report to mention everyone. I apologise therefore, if I just highlight some memories of my visit to Milwaukee, which stand out for me:

• Prof. Richard McLaren’s overview of the work of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, particularly at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City. At that event, there were fifteen cases heard in eighteen days, with panel adjudicators often working until 3.00am reading papers. His comments were very interesting on the Alain Baxter case, on which he adjudicated. He described it as ‘the closest to the borderline as you can get in a doping case’. He noted that the adjudicators wrote in the report that Alain Baxter ‘was not a dishonest athlete’.
• The knowledge and practical experience of David Schwendiman, Assistant United States Attorney (Utah), former Lt. Commander, (Naval Intelligence) really showed through in his informative overview of an emerging risk management model, and the range of security and risk issues, addressed at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, Utah. In addition, the sheer scale of the security and risk management operation was impressive- 78 events, over twelve days, in seven counties covering 7,200 sq. Miles, requiring police co-ordination with 29 separate Federal agencies, using over 7000 military personnel.
• Mike Moran, Senior Communications counsel for the New York 2012 Olympic Bid, touched on the challenges of International Crisis Management in both multi-sponsorship deals and Olympic events,. Of particular interest was the references made to the political and economic pressures brought to bear on the US Olympic Committee in the lead-up to the 1980 boycott of the Moscow Olympics.
• The inspiring speech by Donna De Verona, in accepting the ‘Master of the Game’ Award at the luncheon on Friday 26 September and the support for her Olympic work and the Women’s Sports Foundation, from lawyers such as Mike Moran and Clarke Griffith.
• The positive, informed and common sense approach taken by Stacey Robinson, Director of Player Development at the NFL, former NY Giants Player, on player education and the development of doping rules and policy in the National Football League.
• Working in such attractive and historical buildings as the Marquette University Law School, riding in a traditional yellow school bus to the conference venue, and meeting the guys from the Milwaukee Fire Department at 3.30am in the hotel, following a false alarm and evacuation!
• The chance to see and experience the culture of Milwaukee and Chicago, including my first baseball match, and walk in the dugout, thanks to the kindness and hospitality of Jim Gray, Janis Doleschal, Matt Mitten, Joe Kearney, Paul Anderson, Mr. Ulice Payne, Chief Executive Milwaukee Brewers Baseball Club and the volunteers at Miller Park Ground.