Legal provisions for transfers of athletes

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PhD S.V. Lukashevich1
PhD K.E. Lukovkin1
Associate Professor, PhD T.A. Makarova1
1Ulyanovsk State Pedagogikal University, Ulyanovsk

The study analyzes the valid legal and regulatory provisions for transfers of athletes from one sport organization to another. For the purposes of the study the authors formally analyze the national and international laws and judicial practices with concern to transfers; compare the relevant provisions of the labor codes with regulations of sport federations versus the constitutional labor freedom; give a legal assessment of the settlement system applied in the transfer contracts; analyze the law enforcement (including judicial) national and international practices; point to the contradictions and deficiencies in the valid legislation; and offer the ways to correct and harmonize the latter.
The study data gives the reasons to state that limitations of the athlete’s right for free labor shall in no way be qualified with the exclusions provided by Article 55 of the Constitution of the RG and, hence, violate the latter. The athletes’ motivations for transfers to the competing organizations are dominated by the dissatisfaction with payments; inadequate conditions for professional progress and promotion etc. It is concluded that every transfer related issue shall be solved by the reasonable financial and promotional means rather than the unconstitutional limitations of the labor freedom.

Keywords: transfers of athletes, transfer payments, athlete’s contract, contract cancellation, labor right, labor freedom.

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