BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Sven Demeulemeester, Willem-Alexander Devlies and Daan Buylaert, ATFiELD
• General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (EU Regulation 2016/679). • Belgian Data Protection Act (Law of 30 July 2018). • Belgian Act on the creation of the Belgian Data Protection Authority (GBA/APD) (Law 3 December 2017) – ie, authority overseeing compliance and imposing fines for violations. The Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA) and other federations have adopted internal data protection policies aligned with the GDPR. Guidelines exist for handling athlete biometric data, video surveillance in stadiums and online fan engagement platforms. Impact of the GDPR on Belgian Sport Sports clubs, like any other organisation, should comply with the GDPR’s principles. When sports clubs would like to use health data or biometric data, it can be challenging to identify the right legal basis and exemption ground. A data pro - tection impact assessment may also need to be carried out in such cases. In 2021, the Belgian Data Protection Authority reprimanded a fitness club for unlawfully trans - ferring its members’ data to other members. Otherwise, the Belgian Data Protection Authority has not yet taken any specific positions on the use of personal data by sports club or athletes.
principle of autonomy in sports, meaning that disputes are generally expected to be resolved within the framework of the respective sports federations before parties can seek judicial inter - vention. However, in cases where fundamental legal rights are at stake (such as in employment disputes, contractual breaches or competition law violations), the national courts may have jurisdiction. The Belgian Court of Arbitration for Sport (CBAS/BAS) is an independent arbitration body frequently used for resolving sports-relat - ed disputes. In some cases, decisions made by sports federations or CBAS/BAS may be chal - lenged before the civil courts. 6.2 ADR (Including Arbitration) In Belgium, alternative dispute resolution (ADR) mechanisms such as mediation and arbitration are commonly used in sports disputes. The Bel - gian Court of Arbitration for Sport (CBAS/BAS) is the primary arbitration body dealing with sports-related cases, including disciplinary mat - ters, contractual disputes and eligibility issues. Many sports federations require their members to submit disputes to CBAS/BAS before resort - ing to national courts. The arbitration process is governed by Book VI of the Belgian Judicial Code, which establishes general principles of arbitration. Additionally, Belgium recognises and enforces arbitration awards under the New York Convention on the Recognition and Enforce - ment of Foreign Arbitral Awards, ensuring that international arbitration decisions, such as those from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, are upheld in Belgium. 6.3 Challenging Sports Governing Bodies Sports governing bodies in Belgium have sig - nificant authority to impose sanctions, includ - ing suspensions, fines and points deductions, through their internal disciplinary and regulatory
6. Dispute Resolution 6.1 National Court System
The Belgian national courts play a subsidiary role in resolving sports disputes. Most sports-relat - ed cases are first handled by internal dispute resolution mechanisms established by sports governing bodies. Belgian law recognises the
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