Impact of the Advisory opinion of the Court of the Eurasian Economic Union of 7 December 2018 on the work of professional athletes

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Author: Larissa Zakharova

DOI: 10.21128/2226-2059-2020-1-97-106

Keywords: Eurasian economic commission; Eurasian Economic Union; Eurasian Economic Union Court; freedom of movement; labour activity; professional athletes

Abstract

Since the adoption of The Treaty on the Eurasian Economic Union until rendering the Advisory opinion of 7 December 2018, by the EEU Court there has been legal uncertainty as to whether professional athletes who are citizens of the EEU Member States should be viewed as foreign nationals in Russian sports clubs. The Court of Justice of the European Union, starting with the landmark decision in the case “Belgian Football Union v. Jean-Marc Bosman, Royal club of Liege v. Jean-Marc Bosman, UEFA v. Jean-Marc Bosman” of 15 December 1995, repeatedly confirmed in its decisions the principle of free movement of workers, including professional athletes. Similar patterns are observed in the development of all successful integration associations. If the assumption is correct that the EEU Court is beginning to undertake more visible efforts to bring national legislation in line with the legislation of the Union, then some changes in the legal acts regulating the development of sports in the Member States of the Union are to be expected soon. In conclusion, some author’s assumptions are made as to what legal consequences the Advisory opinion of the EEU Court of 7 December 2018, may entail for the Eurasian integration. The main conclusion that should now be taken into account by Russian sports clubs is that players from Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Armenia cannot be subject to quotas set for foreign nationals.

About the author: Larisa Zakharova – Candidate of Sciences (Ph.D.) in Law, Associate Professor, Kutafin Moscow State Law University, Moscow, Russia.

Citation: Zakharova L. (2020) Vliyanie Konsul'tativnogo zaklyucheniya Suda EAES ot 7 dekabrya 2018 goda na osushchestvlenie trudovoy deyatel'nosti profes­sional'nykh sportsmenov [Impact of the Advisory opinion of the Court of the Eurasian Economic Union of 7 December 2018 on the work of professional athletes]. Mezhdunarodnoe pravosudie, vol.10, no.1, pp.97–106. (In Russian).

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