ECUADOR Law and Practice Contributed by: Santiago José Zambrano Solano, Conlegal Sports
gation to sign a labour contract with the athlete so there is no employer/employee relationship. Disputes in professional football contracts most com - monly arise because football clubs have not regis - tered a labour contract according to the rules govern - ing employer and employee, as a result of which, the competence to decide in the case of a labour dispute is unclear. Another problem that sometimes arises with employ - er/employee rules is that the documents justifying payment of the players’ salaries have not been signed. If these documents, called payment roles, are not signed by the players, they cannot receive their salary, which can lead to professional football clubs being There is no such thing in Ecuador as a special visa for foreign athletes. The only visa a foreign athlete needs is a labour permit given by the foreign minister and this only applies to professional footballers because, as mentioned previously, there is no obligation to sign an employment contract with athletes from other sports. For football, the number of foreign athletes is limited by the competition rules of LigaPro to eight players. In tournaments organised by the Ecuadorian Foot - ball Federation, the number of foreign players is also capped according to the competition rules, and will depend on the kind of tournament. sanctioned with points deductions. 7.3 Free Movement of Athletes Finally, there is no relevant visa restriction for foreign athletes, but there are multiple benefits in terms of migration for athletes that are born in the Andean Community (Peru, Colombia, Bolivia and Chile). 8. Women’s Sport 8.1 Development and Growth of Women’s Sport Professional women’s sport in Ecuador is limited to football. Other sports are not considered professional, so there is no obligation to sign a labour contract. In addition, even in football, there is no obligation to sign
labour contracts with most of the players and besides, the women’s professional football tournament only lasts three months, so for the rest of the year, the club will not have any obligation to pay the players. At the beginning of 2026, the Law of Equality in sala - ries was signed in Ecuador. As this is supposed to be implemented for football as well as other forms of employment, it is hoped that new legal require - ments to protect women football players can soon be drafted. One of the most well-known cases in women’s sport happened in 2025 when several female football play - ers at a renowned club in Ecuador received authori - sation to finish their contracts with their former club by just cause according to 12bis and 14bis of FIFA’s Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP). The dispute resolution chamber of the Ecua - dorian Football Federation accepted the just cause even though there was no intimation that unpaid sala - ries were going to be settled, and the former club was not required to prove that it had settled all the sup - posed unpaid amounts. 8.2 Organisations and Initiatives to Promote Women’s Sport The creation of the Ecuadorian Professional Super - league for female football is a great step in providing a professional structure for female football and the possibility to increase the incomes of female football players. There are no specific organisations or initiatives for women in any other sport in Ecuador. 9. Esports 9.1 Development and Growth of Esports In Ecuador there is no recognition for a specialised Esports Club, as this cannot be created by the Ecua - dorian Sports Law and be registered by the sports minister. However, this is an industry that is growing a lot year on year, with many tournaments and skilful gamers. From a legal perspective, there are no formal obligations for clubs, gamers, owners or investors, so this is still a very informal industry at present. There
123 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook