Journal of Sport and Kinetic Movement (Jul 2018)
THE INFLUENCE OF THE EUROPEAN COURT OF JUSTICE ON SPORT LAW – CASE STUDY
Abstract
The study presents two of the most relevant law cases establishing a general framework for freedom of movement for workers in the field of sport, judgments in which The European Court of Justice gave a preliminary ruling based on the questions submitted by the national courts. The Case C-415/93 of Bosman v Royal Club Liégeois SA and UEFA is based on a dispute regarding the free movement of workers and the incompatibility with the Treaty of Rome of definite rules regarding the business relationships between employers which restrict the exercise of rights of the employees established by the European Community for all Member States. In the preliminary ruling, The European Court of Justice decided on establishing a new rule in the world of sports, determining that football is a subject to the European Union rules regarding the freedom of movement for workers, decision which led to FIFA changing regulations on the status of professional football players at the end of a contract and the freedom of choosing another team to evolve. The Case C-176/96 of Lehtonen v Fédération royale belge des sociétés de basket-ball ASBL put in a spotlight a situation regarding the free movement of workers in the case of professional basketball players and sporting rules related to the transfer of players from European States which are part of the European Union organization. The preliminary ruling is based on the question regarding specific articles from the Treaty of Rome which might preclude the application of certain rules of sporting associations, rules which have a role to prohibit a basketball club from using players from other European Member States in the national championship matches, if a certain date of the transfer has not been respected. By studying the Case Law of the European Court regarding sport cases, it is noticeable that the principles established by the European Union are not to be neglected regardless of the given situations and domains. As primary cases of the Court, the early jurisprudence is an example of the power of the European Court of Justice for all the Member States which is still used as a strong reference to present-day cases.
