Autonomia dell’ordinamento sportivo e principi dello Stato di diritto europeo: le questioni pregiudiziali del TAR Lazio nelle cause FIGC-CONI

This article examines the preliminary references submitted by the Lazio Regional Administrative Court (TAR Lazio) in the joint cases FIGC-CONI (C-424/24 and C-425/24), concerning the compatibility of the Italian system of sports justice with EU law. It analyses Advocate General Spielmann’s Opinion on the relationship between sporting autonomy and the principle of effective judicial protection under Articles 19(1) TEU and 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights. The contribution focuses on three issues: the limits imposed on national courts’ powers to review and annul sports disciplinary sanctions; the compatibility of long-term bans with EU rules on competition and free movement; and the question, left open by the Advocate General, of whether broadly framed disciplinary clauses based on duties of loyalty, fairness and probity comply with the principles of legality and due process. The article situates the FIGC-CONI cases within the recent case-law of the Court of Justice, highlighting the increasing relevance of EU constitutional standards in the assessment of sports regulation.