Referring to the evolution of sport development, one can distinguish the fact that one of the factors that has directly influenced its formation and growth at the international level is the marketing1 that has been made to him through giant billions of dollars worth of investment. Different corporations around the world pay large sums of money to sponsor tennis or golf tournaments, football matches at the national and interstate level, boxing matches, weightlifting etc, competing with each other to conclude contracts with the big leagues of professional sports. This is because of the tremendous impact that sports has around the world through the fans and the advertising of international sponsors. In this context, the contracts receive extraordinary value by representing the rights of the participating parties and the applicable legal framework in each case. Marketing, support, and sponsorship contracts are similar to other service contracts as they identify the parties, determine the duration, list the obligations of the parties, and establish projections in cases of violations of contractual rights. Companies that sponsor a player, league, or event want to make sure that their investment will provide a healthy return in the form of increased exposure and sales for their products or services. In contracts signed between sponsors and athletes or the League, there are several provisions that promotion specialists should include to ensure their financial well-being2 in the event of unexpected situations with a view to the mutual protection of the parties. Such provisions relating to compensation of damage, force majeure and insurance responsibility to assist in the protection of sponsors when events occurring are beyond their control3 are indispensable for these types of contracts and assist in the elimination of all cases abusive to the rights of the parties. A sponsorship contract, whether between a company and a player, or between a company and a sports event, is a legally binding agreement that ensures that each party will fulfill the respective obligations under the agreement. The totality of the contract must clarify in detail the obligations of each party in the event of unforeseen circumstances, such as a labor dispute, a natural disaster, a player’s injury, or bankruptcy of the company, etc., in order to then avoid all the judicial conflicts that might arise from them.
Contractual sporting rights under international legal acts
Published in JPASE Journal (Volume 3, Issue 1, December 2017)
Abstract
The right to sport can be said to be one of the most important rights of the individual, for the fact that sport is one of the most effective ways of free exercise of all affirmative activities for his individuality and personality. The importance of sport has increased dramatically in recent years, as many states, law enforcement agencies and large organizations, or legal entities have been engaged in order to protect and provide capacity for its development. International law through the drafting and adoption of legal acts with international value has made it possible to sanction all legal grounds in the context of sport development and the resulting agreements. In order to avoid abuses, the protection of young talents, the protection of the parties involved in the sports work contracts, the right and practice refer to a full legal framework that takes value in the design of models and type contracts for employment and development professional athletes around the world. Among the best models for sports development, we can say that Europe and the US have played an important role in promoting its values and for the effective protection of athletes from any misuse and abuse of their figure. Contractual freedom in the sports field as much as it serves to promote human and sporting rights and creates enormous consequences for the parties involved when one of them violates its core criteria because of the great importance of sport in the days of today, brings colossal gains in certain cases to different humanities or societies. For this reason, this paper will briefly discuss some of the common elements that have sports work contracts in these countries, with a view to evolving the way of protecting and treating athletes from these two different legal systems.
Keywords
Sport, contract, sponsorship, international acts, legal framework, abuse, rights of the parties, border barriers, court.
Andrew Zimbalist, The Bottom Line. “Observations and Arguments on the Sports Business”, (Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press, 2006).
Herbert F. Lewis, Thomas R. Sexton, and Kathleen
A. Lock, “Player Salaries, Organizational Efficiency, and Competitiveness in Major League Baseball,” Journal of Sports Economics 266 (2007),
Casale Giuseppe, Perulli Adalberto. “Towards the single employment contract: comparative
reflections”, Oxford: Hart; Geneva: ILO, 2014.
Galantino Luisa, “ Diritto comunitario del lavoro“ Torino, 2009.
Harrison David, “Competition laë and financial services”, Abingdon: Routledge, 2014.
Parrish, R., “The birth of European Union sports law” (2003), 2, Entertainment Law.
International legal acts
European Convention on Human Rights (1950); European Social Charter (1989);
Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU (2000);
Treaties on the Functioning of the European Union (Treaty of Rome 1958, Lisbon Treaty 2009, Maastricht Treaty 1993);
Council Regulations no. 1408/71 and no. 574/72.
National legislation
Constitution of the Republic of Albania, Tirana 1998;
Labor Code of the Republic of Albania, approved by Law No. 7961, dated 12.7.1995, Publication of the Center for Official Publications, December 2014.
Law No.79 / 2017 "On Sports".
Çela K., "Work Right", Tirana, published in 2011.
Çela K. - P. Haxhi "Comparative Law of Work", published in Tirana, year 2015.
The jurisprudence of the European Court of Justice
Decision 26/62 NV Algemene Transport- En Expeditie Onderneming Van Gend en Loos v Administratie der Belastingen [1963] ECR 1;
Decision 14/83 Administration of State Finance v Simmenthal [1984] ECR 1891.
Decision 167/73 Commission v France [1974] ECR 359.
Decision C-176/96 Lehtonen and Others v Fédérationroyalebelge des Sociétés de basketball ball [2000] ECR I-2681.
Decision C-265/03 Simutenkovv Ministerio de Educación y Cultura and Real Federación Española de Fútbol, 12.04. 2005.
Decision C-106/91, Ramrathv. Minister de la Justice [1992] ECR I-3351.
Decisions by the Sports Arbitration Court
The court of arbitration sports 2008/A/1519-1520.
The court of arbitration sports 2007/A/1298; 2007/A/1300.