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HARALD CHRISTIAN SCHEU CYIL 5 ȍ2014Ȏ
in Prague. He teaches and conducts research in issues concerning International and
European Law and International Human Rights Law.
1. Introduction
Since the moment when the European Court of Justice (ECJ) ruled for the first
time that Community law applied also to the field of professional sports,1 40 years
have passed. During this period the ECJ contributed a number of decisions specifying
the conditions under which professional athletes may invoke the principle of free
movement of workers. Therefore, there may be no doubt that European law affects
the legal status of professional athletes in a fundamental way.
Many authors refer to the Bosman judgment 2 as one of the milestones not only
of European sports law but also of European law as such. The Bosman case serves as
an illustrative example of the application of EU internal market rules in the context of
the prohibition of discrimination on grounds of nationality, the concept of mandatory
requirements and the principle of proportionality.3 The practical effect of the Bosman
ruling on the status of professional athletes and sports clubs was, indeed, dramatic.
Almost 20 years after the ECJ in its judgment declared some measures restricting
the free transfer of players to be illegal,4 the share of soccer players from other EU
Member States in the German first soccer league increased by more than 500%.5
The negotiating position of professional athletes improved significantly, and athletes,
nowadays, usually enter into negotiations with the club for a contract extension and
financial benefits before the expiration of the contract.
ECJ case law suggests that the practice of sport by professional athletes is an
economic activity which falls under EU law. In a judgment of 2003, the ECJ stated
that the prohibition of discrimination applies not only to EU citizens but also to
citizens of countries with which the EU (formerly the European Community) has
concluded an association agreement.6 In another case, the ECJ clarified that the
applicability of EU law to sport activity does not depend on whether athletes, under
national law, are defined as workers or service providers.7 With a view to the general
framework of EU internal market rules and related ECJ case law we want to focus on
1 Case 36/74 Walrave.
2 Case C-415/93 (judgment of 15 December 1995).
3 See, for example, Tichý, L./ Arnold, R./ Zemánek, J./ Král, R./ Dumbrovský, T. Evropské právo [European
law] (4. edition), Praha, 2010.
4 See Streinz, Rudolf. Der Fall Bosman: Bilanz und neue Fragen, ZEuP 2/2005, pp. 340-364.
5 In 2009, an empirical study on the impact of the Bosman ruling on German soccer has been presented
by Hannah Geyer and Alexander Dilger from the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster (Folgen
des Bosman-Urteils für die 1. Fußball-Bundesliga, IÖB-Diskussionspapier 2/09, available at: http://
) .
6 Case C-438/00 Deutscher Handballbund e.V. v. Maros Kolpak (judgment of 8 May 2003).
7 Case C-325/08, Olympique Lyonnais SASP v. Olivier Bernard and Newcastle United UFC (judgment
of 16 March 2010). With respect to the debate in the Czech Republic and Slovakia see Morávek, J.,
Štefko, M. Profesionální sportovci v kolektivních sportech, Časopis pro právní vědu a praxi, 3/2013, pp.
354-358.