POLAND Law and Practice Contributed by: Łukasz Klimczyk, Maciej Skrzypek, Beata Danel-Skrzypek and Piotr Klepuszewski, SLK Partners
related obligations. Employment contracts under the Labour Code are legally possible but relatively rare. The appropriate contractual form is assessed on a case-by-case basis, taking into account both the internal regulations of a given sport and the actual manner in which the athlete performs their duties. Central contracts concluded directly between national federations and athletes are not common in Poland and typically arise only in limited situations, such as federation support programmes or in preparation for major competitions. Similarly, salary cap systems are not widely implemented, although certain disciplines apply limited remuneration-related mechanisms (eg, point-based remuneration limits in speedway). In prac - tice, financial oversight is exercised mainly through licensing systems and financial stability requirements. Although Polish law does not treat sports competition law as a separate regulatory category, sports organi - sations may be reviewed under general competition law by the President of the Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (UOKiK). Investigations have concerned issues such as centralised media rights sales, collective management of commercial rights by leagues and restrictions affecting market access for organisers or broadcasters. Potential competition law risks include collective remuneration rules, transfer regulations affecting ath - lete mobility and agreements between clubs regarding employment conditions. Regulatory practice indicates that UOKiK – similarly to other EU authorities – will recognise the specific nature of sport when assessing such arrangements. A notable recent case involved a finding that a federa - tion and a professional league organiser had entered into an anticompetitive agreement by setting maxi - mum remuneration levels for athletes. Although finan - cial penalties were initially imposed, the decision was later overturned following judicial review. 7.2 Employer/Employee Rights Sports organisations in Poland, including national fed - erations, clubs and professional leagues, are gener - ally subject to ordinary employment law rules where
employment relationships exist. In practice, however, athletes are most commonly engaged under civil law agreements for the provision of sports services gov - erned by the Civil Code. Employment contracts are used more frequently for coaching staff and adminis - trative personnel. Where the actual manner in which duties are per - formed reflects the characteristics of an employment relationship – such as subordination, continuity of work and managerial supervision – labour law provi - sions may apply regardless of the contractual form used by the parties. Courts assess the substance of the relationship rather than its formal designation. Employment-related disputes in sport most common - ly concern the termination of contracts with coaches or technical staff, remuneration claims and disputes regarding the recognition of an employment relation - ship where an athlete formally performed under a civil law contract. Such cases are resolved by labour There is no statutory provision in Polish law expressly prohibiting sports organisations from introducing lim - its on foreign players. However, the ability to apply such restrictions is significantly constrained by Euro - pean Union law, in particular the principles of free movement of workers. As a general rule, sports organisations may not impose quantitative restrictions on players who are nationals of EU or EEA member states. In practice, this means that “foreign player” limits should not apply to EU/ EEA nationals. courts under general procedural rules. 7.3 Free Movement of Athletes Restrictions concerning players from outside the EU are, in principle, permissible, provided that they arise from the internal regulations of the relevant Pol - ish sports federation. In many Polish professional leagues, rules are in place limiting the number of non- EU players who may be included on the field or in the match-day squad. In practice, the design and enforcement of such restrictions must remain consistent with EU law and the case law of the Court of Justice of the European
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