SOME PROBLEMS OF PROTECTION OF LABOR RIGHTS OF PROFESSIONAL ATHLETES IN NATIONAL COURTS

Abstract

The article is devoted to the study of problematic issues that arise when protecting the labor rights of professional athletes in national courts. The complexity of such cases is primarily due to the lack of legislative consolidation of the legal nature of a sports contract as labor contract. It has been established that in legal science there is no unity of views on the legal nature of the sports contract and there are three main approaches: civil-law, labor and mixed. Proponents of the civil-law approach identify features that are inherent in a sports contract, but cannot be inherent in an employment contract (unlike a civil-law one), however, based on the analysis of scientific literature, it was concluded that such an approach is insufficiently substantiated. It has been established that some representatives of the civil law approach do not deny that a sports contract can be an employment contract. It is argued that the mixed approach to the legal nature is quite justified, but it has certain shortcomings. It has been proven that a sports contract is a special form of a labor contract – a contract in which the parties can independently determine its validity period, the rights, obligations and responsibilities of the parties, the conditions for terminating the contract, etc. The thesis is put forward that the application of the labor legislation to the sports contract allows for better protection of the athlete's rights, because the labor legislation provides for much more guarantees of the rights of the employee than in the civil law - the performer who provides services. It has been established that there is no unity among sports associations and federations regarding the legal nature of a sports contract. Based on the analysis of court practice, it was concluded that the courts are governed by labor legislation when resolving disputes arising from a sports contract. It has been established that the main source of law, which contains norms regulating legal relations regarding the conclusion, execution and termination of a sports contract, is the labor legislation of Ukraine. A conclusion was made regarding the expediency of a clear definition in the legislation that the source of legal regulation of legal relations on the conclusion, execution and termination of a sports contract should be the legislation of Ukraine on labor.