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Employment contracts in professional sports are governed by standard employment law principles. While the work of professional athletes is unique, their legal rights and obligations are similar to other employment relationships. True employment contracts in sports are contracts of service or service agreements, though sports contracts are often structured as consultancy agreements. Standard form contracts approved by governing sports bodies are common, limiting negotiation of terms. Restraint of trade clauses preventing certain post-contract actions are also common but their enforceability depends on case law exceptions to the general rule of being void. Disputes in sports are often resolved through arbitration instead of courts to allow for expertise-based flexible private proceedings over rigid legal rules.

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Amit Tiwari
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39 views

BITS

Employment contracts in professional sports are governed by standard employment law principles. While the work of professional athletes is unique, their legal rights and obligations are similar to other employment relationships. True employment contracts in sports are contracts of service or service agreements, though sports contracts are often structured as consultancy agreements. Standard form contracts approved by governing sports bodies are common, limiting negotiation of terms. Restraint of trade clauses preventing certain post-contract actions are also common but their enforceability depends on case law exceptions to the general rule of being void. Disputes in sports are often resolved through arbitration instead of courts to allow for expertise-based flexible private proceedings over rigid legal rules.

Uploaded by

Amit Tiwari
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Employment contracts in professional sport

Professional sport like any industry depends on the recruitment and retention of quality individuals for
commercial success. The employment of sports professionals is legally no different to other employment
situations. Though the ‘work’ being rendered by the employee is of course far from routine, the legal
rights and obligations arising between employer and employee in sport are governed by the usual
principles of employment law.

True contracts of employment are referred to as contracts of service or service agreements. Often in
sport the contract signed by the sports professional is in fact a consultancy agreement or a contract for
the provision of services which does not create an employee/employer relationship. Standard contracts
(generally approved by the governing body of the sport) are very common in professional sport, so the
main content of a contract between the parties will often not be open to negotiation. This does not rule
out the possibility of individually negotiated terms on top of these standard terms of course.

Restraint of trade clauses in professional sports contracts are common and occasionally lead to
litigation. These are provisions which prevent the ability of the sports professional to do certain things
either during or after the contract. The starting point in law is that all such clauses are automatically void
but there is a body of case law concerning exceptions to this rule.

Professional football clubs for example may well have a legitimate interest to protect in the form of their
substantial investment in acquiring new players. Sports bodies may also need to provide for certain
limitations to regulate the conduct of the sport. Advice should be sought on the enforceability of any
such provision.

Dispute resolution in sport

It is common for disputes arising out of participation in sport to be referred to an internal dispute
resolution procedure. Arbitration in particular is used to handle alleged serious breaches of the rules.
For example in cricket, matters can be referred to the ICC arbitral body. Indeed where an enforceable
arbitration agreement is in place it will not be possible for the dispute to be resolved through the courts
before this option has been exhausted.

The use of such ADR methods allows flexibility in terms of procedure (rather than the parties being
bound by court rules), increased speed, privacy and the ability to select decision makers with an expert
background in the sport in question. Where the results of a particular sporting event and/or the
reputation of the sportsmen or women in question are concerned these can be very significant
advantages. The court of arbitration in Switzerland provides a final private arbitral tribunal of appeal for
disputes arising out of sport.
The courts in the UK have long supported the use of dispute resolution methods in sport. As one judge
put it, ‘justice can often be done… better by a good layman than a bad lawyer.‘ The courts will give
deference to the expertise of experienced sports professionals in regulating disputes by readily
enforcing agreements to arbitrate. The court’s role will however become relevant if decisions by an
arbitral tribunal appear contrary to natural justice or principles of proportionality.

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