ECUADOR Law and Practice Contributed by: Santiago José Zambrano Solano, Conlegal Sports
1. Athlete Conduct, Integrity and Enforcement 1.1 Anti-Doping Regimes Doping is not yet considered a criminal offence under Ecuadorian Criminal Law ( Código Orgánico Integral Penal ) and cannot be established in any other legal document outside sport. The only substances on the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) prohibited substances list that are considered criminally illegal in Ecuador are social drugs, such as marijuana, cocaine, heroin, fentanyl, etc. The national anti-doping agency in Ecuador ( Unidad Nacional Antidopaje del Ecuador is – UNADE) has jurisdiction to impose sanctions in cases of doping in sports. UNADE is recognised by WADA, and is completely autonomous to act in all cases related to WADA in Ecuador. Every Ecuadorian sports federa - tion is obliged to include in its by-laws recognition of WADA for international purposes and UNADE for national purposes. The new Ecuadorian Sports Law considers the fight against doping as being of pub - lic interest to the government. It also recognises the jurisdiction of WADA as an international institution that regulates doping, as well as the sanctions imposed by WADA on athletes, national federations and sports organisations. 1.2 Misconduct and Match-Fixing The new Ecuadorian Sports Law now includes defini - tions of lack of sporting integrity and match-fixing, both of which can lead to the exclusion of athletes from the Ecuadorian sports system. Besides that, the professional football league and the Ecuadorian Foot - ball Federation have drafted rules regarding match- fixing in football because even the Ecuadorian Sports Law does not mention anything about match-fixing in sports. Every Ecuadorian sports federation includes a sanc - tion for “misconduct and offence to sports integrity” and in those cases, the athlete, club, or anyone related to sports could receive a disciplinary sanction accord - ing to the disciplinary code of ethics of the particu - lar federation. The Ecuadorian Olympic Committee works alongside the International Olympic Commit -
tee to help national sports federations implement a legal framework to fight match-fixing in sports, with circulars and a complaints channel for athletes and sports stakeholders. In the case of professional football, there was an important case related to match-fixing and betting on sports in 2023. In this case, Libertad FC received a sanction from the disciplinary committee of the Ecua - dor Professional Football League (LigaPro), confirmed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and started the 2024 tournament with minus four points and a fine of USD30,000. In 2025, a player was sanctioned against participating in professional sport for two years by the disciplinary committee of LigaPro, but an appeal demonstrated that the sanction was unfair and it was withdrawn. This was a famous case, as it concerned a collective sanction that affected three clubs and 20 players. 1.3 Betting-Related Offences In Ecuador, a new provision prohibits the promotion of betting on sports, although such betting is not ille - gal and there is no particular legislation that prohib - its it. In line with the particular case of “misconduct and offence to sports integrity”, however, there have been many disciplinary sanctions for betting on sports where it is treated as an offence to sports integrity. Once again, the Ecuadorian Professional Football League has been the first institution in Ecuadorian sports to take steps in this direction by prohibiting betting on sports through the landmark case of Lib - ertad FC in 2023. In that sense, LigaPro created a new department (the “Integrity Department”) that deals with all situations related to betting on sports. By December 2023, LigaPro had accepted the petition to prohibit all bet - ting on sports by players and board members. In the most recent case of betting on sports, Libertad FC received a sanction from the disciplinary commit - tee of LigaPro, confirmed by CAS. This meant Liber - tad FC started the 2024 tournament with minus four points and an economic fine of USD30,000. In addi - tion, Libertad FC player Milton Bolaños was suspend -
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