American Sports Arbitration in the major leagues: the problem of arbitrators’ impartiality in the US

Abstract

The Author focuses on US sports arbitration in professional leagues, raising strong doubts about the bias of the Commissioner, in the context of a system in which the same person who initiated, in his capacity as “head” of a sports league professional, disciplinary action against a player also decides whether a penalty should be imposed on him. Doubts that are linked to the multiplicity of roles that this subject can cover in the same arbitration procedure of the NFL and also to the fact that, in recent years, he is no longer perceived as an impartial and independent subject who takes care of the interest of sport, but rather seen as the CEO (CEO) of the Owners League. A very different solution than those practiced in our country. The survey offers some points of comparison on the weak points of the American system: one of these is the sports justice system which in the United States is predominantly arbitrary in nature.