PORTUGAL Law and Practice Contributed by: Miguel Santos Almeida, Maria Novo Baptista and João Saúde, Sérvulo & Associados
physical data with video data to drive tactical analy - sis, opposition scouting and player recruitment, often through long-term partnerships with specialist analyt - ics providers. At a competition level, data is also used to protect integrity through monitoring betting patterns and match incidents, while spectator data from apps, ticketing and memberships underpins personalised fan engagement, customer relationship management (CRM) and improved matchday experiences, with clubs and other sports bodies investing heavily in digital platforms. Emerging uses include instrumented equipment such as sensor-enabled match balls that create new real-time data feeds for broadcast and fan products, alongside the extensive use of statistics for media sto - rytelling and sponsor valuation. Commercially, these developments create opportunities to: • sell integrated performance and analytics solutions to clubs and academies; • license tracking and event data to media, sponsors and betting markets; • grow fan lifetime value through personalised digital services; • provide integrity and compliance products; • deploy smart-venue analytics; and • offer consulting and training as Portuguese sports organisations continue to build internal data exper - tise. 5.8 Data Protection In Portugal, sports data is governed primarily by the GDPR, supplemented by Law No 58/2019 and enforced by the Portuguese Data Protection Authority. Much of the data used in sport – especially health, biometric and performance data collected through wearables and medical systems – qualifies as spe - cial category personal data, requiring a clear lawful basis, strict minimisation and security measures, and respect for individual rights such as access and dele - tion. In practice, the GDPR has reshaped how sports organisations operate. One notable example is the
approach taken by the Portuguese football club Ben - fica, which redesigned its digital platforms and fan databases to make consent management explicit, allowing supporters to separately opt in or out of mar - keting, profiling and sponsor communications. This resulted in smaller but higher-quality datasets, with clearer proof of consent and increased trust, while limiting aggressive data monetisation. Moreover, there has also been an effort from sports bodies in defining whether they act as data control - lers or processors in their digital services, clarifying responsibilities between the league, clubs and tech - nology providers when sharing data with broadcasters and sponsors. Athletes and clubs may challenge a disciplinary sanc - tion rendered by the disciplinary council of a sports federation before the Portuguese Court of Arbitra - tion for Sport (TAD), which was created by Law No 74/2013 of September 6th. The final decisions of professional league bodies or other sports entities, as well as the deliberations of the disciplinary council or the decisions of the jus - tice council of the sports federations, when issued in appeals against the deliberations of a federative body other than the disciplinary council, can also be chal - lenged before the TAD. 6. Dispute Resolution 6.1 Role of National Court Systems However, whenever the resolution of issues arising from the application of technical and disciplinary rules directly concerning the practice of the sports competi - tion itself is at stake, the disciplinary council’s deci - sions may only be appealed to the justice council. Access to judicial or arbitration courts for the resolu - tion of such issues is forbidden. As regards the definition of issues arising from the application of technical and disciplinary rules directly concerning the practice of the sports competition itself, a teleological criterion of the function of the rules should prevail. Decisions regarding the application of rules concerning the actual practice of the sport
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