PORTUGAL Trends and Developments Contributed by: Miguel Santos Almeida, Maria Novo Baptista and João Saúde, Sérvulo & Associados
Sports Integrity The year 2024 began with the publication of Law No 14/2024, of 19 January, which establishes the legal framework for the integrity of sports and the fight against anti-sporting conduct, which has been a growing concern worldwide, especially as the turnover of territorially based and online sports betting grows. Regarding match-fixing and the manipulation of sports results, Law No 14/2024 establishes that the use of means aimed at artificially altering the results of sports events is a criminal offence pun - ishable by imprisonment for up to eight years. Match-fixing may also lead to the application of ancillary penalties, such as suspension from sports competitions for up to three years, priva - tion of the right to receive public subventions and a prohibition on performing sporting duties for up to five years. Mandatory reporting is also imposed whenever sports agents become aware of or suspect anti- sporting conduct contrary to the values of truth, fairness and correctness and likely to fraudu - lently alter a sports competition or its result. They must immediately report such conduct to the public prosecutor’s office. Law No 14/2024 also stipulates the creation of a platform to monitor the manipulation of evi - dence, with experts appointed by the Attorney General’s Office, the judiciary police, the Portu - guese Olympic Committee and the Portuguese Football Federation, among others, handing over co-ordination duties to the director of the anti-corruption unit of the judiciary police. Career Support for Athletes Given that 2024 was an Olympic year, it was only fitting that it began with the approval of Law No
13/2024, of 19 January, which establishes sup - port measures for Olympic, Paralympic, Deaf - lympic and high-performance athletes after the end of their careers, such as: • the creation of a public employment quota system in central, regional and local adminis - tration services and bodies; • the creation of a temporary reintegration grant, to be awarded for a maximum period of 36 months. • establishment of the equivalence of a defini - tive employment agreement concluded with a sports athlete who has been part of the high-performance system for at least eight consecutive or interpolated years with an employment agreement concluded with a young person looking for their first job (which has benefits in terms of social security contri - butions); and • the creation of a special system of access to higher education for high-performance athletes within three years of the end of their career. These measures reveal the growing concern of the Portuguese legislator with the management of the end of athletes’ careers. Women’s Football In line with its growing prominence, the Portu - guese sports federation and Portuguese sports companies have been increasingly investing in women’s football in Portugal. In June 2024, recognising the physical, psycho - logical and social differences between male and female players, the Portuguese Football Federa - tion internally adopted, with immediate effect, the amendments to the Regulations on the Sta - tus and Transfer of Players (RSTP) made by the International Federation of Association Football
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