POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Łukasz Klimczyk, Maciej Skrzypek, Beata Danel-Skrzypek and Piotr Klepuszewski, SLK Partners
6. Dispute Resolution 6.1 Role of National Court Systems
medical data, are subject to enhanced protection standards. In practice, sports data in Poland is used primarily for sports management and performance analysis, including athlete performance monitoring, training optimisation, injury prevention, scouting and transfer decision-making. It is also widely used in media cov - erage to generate live statistics and expert analysis, as well as in marketing activities and fan engagement strategies. From a commercial perspective, sports data creates opportunities in several areas. These include the sale and licensing of sports statistics to media organisa - tions, analytics providers and betting operators, as well as the use of data to enhance sponsorship value and support the development of sports technologies. 5.8 Data Protection The processing of sports-related data is primarily sub - ject to personal data protection regulations, in par - ticular EU regulations (ie, the GDPR) but also national legal regulations such as the Personal Data Protection Act. In addition, the following apply: • sectoral regulations (eg, concerning the safety of mass events); and • sports federation regulations. Impact of the GDPR on the Sports Sector The GDPR has had a significant impact on the func - tioning of sport, particularly in the following areas. • Management of player data - Clubs have had to introduce data protection policies, restrictions on access to medical data, and IT security proce - dures. • Sports marketing – Including the creation of fan databases, sending newsletters, and marketing profiling. Clear consent and transparency have become mandatory. • Broadcasting and monitoring – Additional obliga - tions have been introduced for stadium monitoring systems and sports event broadcasts.
In Poland, state courts play a complementary role to dispute resolution mechanisms operating within sports structures. Sports disputes are primarily addressed through internal mechanisms established by sports organisations; however, national courts retain juris - diction to review legal matters and to adjudicate civil and commercial disputes, including property-related claims. In practice, Polish sports federations operate exten - sive internal systems for dispute resolution and dis - ciplinary liability within their respective disciplines. These systems commonly include: • internal arbitration bodies functioning within sports structures (eg, in football or speedway); and • disciplinary bodies responsible for enforcing sport - ing regulations. Such mechanisms constitute the primary forum for resolving sport-specific disputes. Independently of internal federation systems, the Polish Sports Act provides for the Court of Arbitra - tion for Sport at the Polish Olympic Committee. This body operates as a permanent arbitration court acting under the principles set out in the Polish Code of Civil Procedure. Polish law does not establish a uniform statutory obli- gation to exhaust all internal remedies before bringing a claim before state courts. In practice, however, such an obligation may arise: • from the statutes and regulations of Polish sports federations; or • from arbitration clauses accepted by participants in sport. 6.2 ADR Mechanisms In practice, sports disputes in Poland are primarily resolved outside state courts through alternative dis - pute resolution (ADR) mechanisms operating within sports organisations or through arbitration. This model reflects the principle of autonomy of sport and results
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