SPAIN Law and Practice Contributed by: Joaquín Jofre Fernández-Abascal, Jofre Sports Law
Law 39/2022 This is the foundational law for modern Spanish sport. It mandates that federations offer ADR channels and defines the competencies of the TAD. Organic Law 1/2025 This recent reform makes attempting an ADR mecha - nism (such as mediation or conciliation) a mandatory prerequisite before filing most civil lawsuits. Law 60/2003 This provides the legal framework for all private arbi - tration in Spain, ensuring that arbitral awards have the same legal weight as a court judgment (res judicata). Law 5/2012 on mediation This regulates the mediation process, focusing on neutrality, confidentiality and the voluntary nature of the agreement. 6.3 Sanctions, Remedies and Challenges In Spain, the power of sports governing bodies to enforce sanctions – and the pathways to challenging them – was significantly restructured by the Sports Act (Law 39/2022). Powers of Sports Governing Bodies Spanish sports governing bodies (federations and pro - fessional leagues) have the authority to impose and enforce sanctions based on their own statutes and regulations, which act as a private contract between the body and its members. Sanctioning scope Sports governing bodies can issue sporting sanctions (eg, bans, point deductions, relegation) and financial sanctions (eg, fines for breaches of internal financial fair play or disciplinary codes). Enforcement mechanism Under Law 39/2022, federations and leagues are required to implement specific enforcement proce - dures for disciplinary matters. Administrative delegation When national federations exercise public adminis - trative functions, their decisions carry administrative weight, though the 2022 law has moved many purely
private or commercial disputes towards civil jurisdic - tion. Remedies for Challenging Decisions Parties wishing to challenge a sanction must follow a specific hierarchy of remedies. • Internal appeal: most sports governing bodies require an internal appeal to a disciplinary com - mittee (eg, Comité de Apelación ) before external action. • Administrative appeal before the TAD (Admin - istrative Court of Sport): the final administrative instance for disciplinary, doping and electoral mat - ters. Its decisions exhaust administrative remedies. • Judicial review before ordinary courts – depending on the nature of the dispute: (a) civil courts for purely private, commercial or contractual disputes; or (b) administrative courts to challenge final deci - sions made by the TAD. 7. Employment Contracts and Rights 7.1 Sports-Related Employment Contracts In Spain, the legal bond between professional athletes and their clubs is unique, blending strict labour pro - tections with specific sporting requirements.
Employment Status and Contracts Special employment relationship
Professional athletes are considered employees, but they do not fall under the general Workers’ Stat - ute. Instead, they are governed by Royal Decree 1006/1985. This law acknowledges the special nature of sports, allowing for fixed-term contracts and spe -
cific termination rules. Collective bargaining
While contracts are individual, they must comply with Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) negotiated between unions such as the AFE (football) or ABP (basketball) and the respective leagues. These CBAs set minimum salaries, vacation days and insurance requirements.
305 CHAMBERS.COM
Powered by FlippingBook