ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Maurizio Marullo, Giorgio Vagnoni and Francesco Amoresano, LAWP Studio legale e tributario
instruments over employees, the prohibition on health checks on employees, procedures related to disci - plinary sanctions imposed by federations, protection against wrongful termination, etc). They were also exempt from non-competition agreements due to the unique nature of their sports activities. Further, only professional athletes enjoyed labour protections such as health and accident insurance, welfare, social security and retirement benefits under the Civil Code or special laws. Their employment contracts, based on standard forms compliant with relevant collective agreements, had a maximum dura - tion of five years. Conversely, amateur athletes were bound to their respective clubs and federations through member - ship (so-called sports bond, see below) and they were not employees. Consequently, they were not subject to the application of Labour law or Law No 91/1981, and did not benefit from mandatory welfare and social security contributions. Economic relations were regu - lated through simple economic agreements and ath - letes were generally paid in the form of expense reim - bursements, travel expenses, bonuses, etc. Further, the duration of amateur relationships was subject to the “sports bond”, the rules of which were established by each federation and during which athletes could terminate their relationships with their clubs only if the latter released them or in exceptional cases regulated by each federation. The “Sports Reform” From July 2023, Legislative Decree 36/2021 intro - duced the new figure of the “sports worker”, which applies to all people involved in sport (eg, athletes, coaches, sports directors, trainers, referees, etc) who, regardless of their professional/non-professional sta - tus, are paid to perform sports activities. Professionals are presumed to be employees, while amateurs are considered self-employed in the form of co-ordinated and continuous collaboration, unless it is proved that the services of the person involved in sport:
• are permanent in nature and exceed 18 hours per week (excluding those for participation in sports events); and • are partly carried out in non-technical/sports aspects. Under the new legislation, exceptions to labour law, as well as certain aspects typical of professional employment (eg, maximum contract duration, trans - fers of employees from one club to another, prohibi - tion of non-compete clauses, etc), now apply even to non-professional sportspersons. Further, all sports employees now benefit from an insurance policy against work accidents and illnesses and also from legislative protections concerning workplace safety, health protection, illness, injury, pregnancy, parent - ing and unemployment. In relation to social security/ welfare protections, sports employees can register with the Sports Workers’ Retirement Fund at the National Institute for Social Security (which can also be accessed by the self-employed if specific condi - tions are met). Abolition of the “Sports Bond” Another major innovation of the new Sports Reform is the abolition of the “sports bond” for non-professional athletes, thereby granting athletes more freedom to change clubs, while providing clubs with compensa - tion for training young athletes. Article 31 of Legislative Decree No 36/2021 ordered the elimination of the sports bond by 1 July 2023 (or 1 July 2025 for renewals of previous memberships). Nevertheless, clubs will be entitled to training com - pensation whenever one of their young athletes signs their first professional/amateur sports work contract with another club. Said compensation shall be distributed proportionally to all the training clubs attended by the athlete during their youth based on the duration and the extent of said training. Compensation is calculated based on the athlete’s age and the economic value of the first contract with the new club, with specific criteria set by each federation.
154 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook