ECUADOR Law and Practice Contributed by: Santiago José Zambrano Solano, Conlegal Sports
The following key terms should be included in a stand - ard contract between sponsors and sports right-hold - ers: • the parties involved;
event will take place and of the national sports federa - tion. Control of sports events is taken by the national sports federation, usually by means of a civil contract to protect both parties’ interests. According to the new Ecuadorian Sports Law, when a sports event is hosted at a venue built by the Ecua - dorian government, all the profits generated by the event must be reinvested in upgrading and improving the venue. Participation by athletes and fans will depend on the scale of the event (ie, if it is a national event attracting a lot of interest, and if the event counts for national or international ranking). 3.2 Duty of Care and Liability In Ecuador, liability for sports events is usually deter - mined by the contract signed between the organisers, the owner of the event and the host city. In such a case, liability will be limited by the Ecuadorian Civil Code and the contract signed by the parties, but there have been many cases of tournaments in the past where there was no liability for the organisers in case of injury while competing, as liability was not correct - ly drafted in the Ecuadorian Sports Law. In the new Ecuadorian Sports Law, however, the sports organis - ers are responsible for medical care and the preven - tion of violence, and have an additional obligation to use at least 20% of the funds obtained from the sale of alcoholic beverages for the development of new athletes. The liability of the athletes to the spectators is deter - mined by the disciplinary code of each national sports federation and sanctions are established through a disciplinary process but not by an individual code of sports liabilities. In the same way, violence and dis - order are controlled by the national sports federation with the support of the host city, according to Articles 156 and 157 of the new Ecuadorian Sports Law, and the necessary protection must be provided by the national police department. Where a national sports federation does not have a disciplinary code, then the host city will be in charge of protecting the spectators from violence and disorder.
• the duration of the contract; • the objective of the contract; • the goals of the contract;
• any agreed limitations; • any agreed prohibitions; • the obligations of the sport right-holder and the sponsors; • compliance with sports marketing regulations; • how ambush marketing will be handled; • all economic obligations; and • the possibility of alternative dispute resolution. 2.3 Broadcasting Rights Sports other than professional football do not gener - ate sufficient income in Ecuador to make broadcasting possible. Negotiations to broadcast professional foot - ball league games take place between the broadcast - er and LigaPro, the league of all professional clubs in Ecuador (Series A and B). The broadcaster signs a contract of USD12–16 mil - lion to be divided among all the professional clubs in Ecuador (in Series A and B). Ecuador will also alleg - edly have a Series C Division for 2028. LigaPro has included all the legal protection required by the marketing department to protect the broad - casters’ rights and the income generated by the sale of TV rights.
3. Sports Events 3.1 Proprietary Rights and Event Management
Sports events are organised in Ecuador by the stake - holders determined by the Ecuadorian Sports Law, such as national leagues or associations, regional leagues or associations, regional sports federations and national sports federation. Where another party wishes to organise a sports event, they will need the authorisation of the city where the
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