1. This request for an Advisory Opinion arises out of a number of changes, made by the Management Committee of the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI), to the Rules of UCI at a meeting in Treviso on the 3rd October 1999. In summary, Comitato Olimpico Nazionale Italiano (CONI) contends that the changes substantially alter the structure of professional cycling, and may be incompatible with the Olympic Charter, UCI’s Constitution, Swiss civil law, Swiss and EC competition law, and Italian law (collectively referred to as “the legal framework”).