This master's thesis examines the legal status and fundamental rights of professional football players within the framework of international, European, and national labour law. It focuses on the problem of the legal qualification of the relationship between the athlete and the club, which, despite fulfilling the elements of a subordinate employment relationship, is too frequently based on civil law contracts in practice. This practice of disguised employment relationships denies players fundamental social security and pushes them into extreme precarity.
The thesis analyzes international decent work standards in the football sector, emphasizing the importance of freedom of association and collective bargaining. It draws attention to the risks of forced labour in international transfers, the necessity of protecting minors in academies, and addresses the issues of discrimination, unequal pay, and racism. At the same time, it highlights specific occupational health risks due to the overload of players and inadequately adapted standards for female football players.
Furthermore, a critical assessment of the Slovenian Sports Act (ZŠpo-1) is provided, which, in contrast to the general labour legislation (ZDR-1), allows for overly broad freedom of contract and the unjustified chaining of fixed-term contracts. By addressing the conflict between the autonomy of sport (lex sportiva) and state law, and analyzing the case law of the CJEU and ILO standards, it confirms that the specificity of sport must not absolutely exclude fundamental workers' and human rights.
Based on a comparative legal review of European regulations, which mandatorily link the status of professional athletes to an employment contract through special legislation, de lege ferenda proposals for the Slovenian legal system are formulated in the conclusion.
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