Inclusion and Exclusion in Competitive Sport

Society is obsessed with categorising and treating individuals and groups according to their physical and non-physical differences, such as sex, gender, disability and race. This treatment can lead to the inclusion or exclusion of an individual from the tangible and intangible benefits of society. Where this practice becomes discriminatory, legal frameworks can protect human rights and ensure that people are treated with due respect for their similarities and differences. In a sporting context, the inclusion and exclusion of athletes based upon their differences is often a necessary part of the essence of competitive sporting activity, arranged around rules and categories that can have an unequal exclusionary impact on certain classes of individual. Dominant sporting cultures can also have exclusionary effects. This important and innovative book seeks to investigate the socio-legal and regulatory balance between inclusion and exclusion in competitive sport. It critically analyses a range of legal and non-legal cases concerning sport-specific inclusion and exclusion in the areas of sex, gender, disability and race, including those cases involving Oscar Pistorius, Caster Semenya and Luis Suarez, to identify the extent to which the law and sport adopt a justifiable and legitimate inclusive or exclusive approach to participation. The book explores national and international regulatory frameworks, identifying deficiencies and good practice, and concludes with recommendations for regulatory reform. Inclusion and Exclusion in Competitive Sport is important reading for anybody with an interest in the relationship between sport and wider society, sports development, sport management, sports law, or socio-legal studies.

Seema Patel is a Senior Lecturer in Law and Deputy Director of the Centre for Sports Law at Nottingham Law School, Nottingham Trent University, UK. She teaches across a range of subjects, but focuses on sports law (in which she holds a PhD), the law of torts and street law. Her particular area of expertise is discrimination in sport and the regulatory balance between inclusion and exclusion in competitive sport. Seema has frequently attended and presented her research at a number of national and international conferences, and has also published in the area and provided expert comment to local press on news stories relating to sports law

Introduction Part I: Key Concepts 1. Sport Specific Inclusion and Exclusion 2. Physical and Non-Physical Human Differences 3. The Regulation of Inclusion and Exclusion Part II: Cases of Inclusion and Exclusion in Sport 4. Sex 5. Gender 6. Disability 7. Race Part III: Striking the Balance 8. Exploring Key Themes 9. Conclusion and Recommendations for Regulatory Reform