SPORTS REGULATION IN SPAIN: A GENERAL OVERVIEW

 

Sport in Spain is regulated by a distinctive blend of public oversight and private organisation.

Since 1 January 2023, its basic regulation is Law 39/2022 on Sport, which replaced Law 10/1990 after more than three decades and was designed to modernise a model outpaced by the professionalisation, commercialisation and social weight of sport.

For clubs, athletes, agents and sponsors operating in Spain, knowing who regulates what is the starting point for any legal matter.

A right and an essential activity

Article 2 of Law 39/2022 recognises sport and physical activity as an essential activity and as a right of everyone, in line with Article 43.3 of the Spanish Constitution, which instructs the public authorities to promote sport.

Competences are shared: the State legislates on the matters reserved to it, whilst the Autonomous Communities hold their own sports powers under Article 148.1.19 of the Spanish Constitution.

Who regulates: public authority and private bodies

The National Sports Council (Consejo Superior de Deportes, CSD) is the autonomous body through which the State manages sports policy (Article 13 of Law 39/2022).

Its powers (Article 14 of Law 39/2022) include recognising sports modalities; authorising and supervising national federations; ratifying their statutes; qualifying competitions as professional; awarding public funding; and monitoring the economic and administrative health of sports entities.

National sports federations, of which there are more than 60, are private associations, but they exercise public functions delegated by the State under CSD supervision (Articles 50 and 51 of Law 39/2022). Chief amongst them is the issuing of licences for state and international competitions, which Law 39/2022 treats as an administrative act. Professional leagues, in turn, organise the competitions that the CSD qualifies as professional.

Clubs have also gained flexibility. Law 39/2022 ended the obligation, imposed by Law 10/1990, to convert into a sports public limited company (SAD) in order to compete professionally; therefore, clubs may now participate either as clubs or as an SAD. Under Law 10/1990, only four clubs had kept their original form: FC Barcelona, Real Madrid, Athletic Club and Osasuna in football.

Key regulated areas

• Discipline and integrity: Law 39/2022 sets the sports disciplinary regime, with conduct, such as match-fixing, amongst the most serious infractions. Sports corruption is also a criminal offence under Article 286 bis.4 of the Spanish Criminal Code and is punishable by six months to four years in prison. Sports federations and leagues must have protocols to prevent discrimination, abuse and harassment under Article 4.5 of Law 39/2022.
• Betting: Law 13/2011 on Gambling, and its implementing rules, restrict betting, notably by prohibiting athletes, coaches, referees and club owners from betting on events in their own sports.
• Labour and professional contracts: professional athletes have a special employment relationship under Royal Decree 1006/1985, with fixed-term contracts, specific rules on image rights, transfers and termination, and the Workers’ Statute (Royal Legislative Decree 2/2015) as supplementary law.
• Minors: Article 7 of Law 39/2022 provides special protection, including parental consent for the commercial use of a minor’s image. Under Article 7.5 of Law 39/2022, professional practice by minors is subject to the labour rules protecting minors and, in particular, Article 6 of the Workers’ Statute.
• Equality: clauses allowing unilateral termination because of pregnancy or maternity are null and void under Article 4 of Law 39/2022, and sports federations and leagues must produce an annual equality report.
• Governance and commercial rights: clubs may compete as clubs or SADs, leagues organise professional competitions, and the CSD arbitrates disputes on audiovisual rights under Royal Decree-law 5/2015 (Article 14 of Law 39/2022).

Resolving disputes

Law 39/2022 separates the public and the private spheres.

The Sports Administrative Tribunal (TAD) hears, amongst other matters, electoral disputes and the most serious sanctions, such as the permanent withdrawal of a licence, and its decisions can be challenged under Article 120 of Law 39/2022.

By contrast, ordinary competition discipline remains with the sports federations and leagues, with recourse to the civil courts or to voluntary arbitration. Law 39/2022 also envisages a common extrajudicial dispute resolution system (Article 119).

What this means in practice

For international clients, the practical question always is which regime applies. Licences, federation elections and serious sanctions are matters of administrative law and are subject to the CSD and the administrative courts.

Contracts and competition discipline are largely private, although labour rules apply to professional athletes.

Recognising that distinction early, as well as the special rules on minors, integrity and betting, will avoid costly mistakes in practice.

For further information and advice on sports legal matters in Spain, email the Head of our Spanish Law Practice, Pablo Pérez, at perez@valloni.ch.