The employment status of the sportsperson: The Belgian case

Abstract

For many athletes, sport will always be seen as their greatest passion, but in addition, for some, sport has also become an economic activity, an activity through which one can earn income. Both professional athletes and (so-called) amateur athletes may conclude contracts with their clubs or federations, which also determine the (possible) variable and/or fixed remuneration they obtain in return for their performances. As sport can be seen as a form of employment, the key question to be asked is whether these contracts should be seen as employment contracts and, consequently, whether these athletes are all employees. This article wishes to contribute to the search for answers to this question. The research is limited to the Belgian legal system but has the ambition to feed a broader discussion. Starting from Belgian labour law, the article examines which conditions must be met in order to speak of an employment contract (labour, remuneration and authority). It can be concluded that many (paid) athletes, especially football players, will meet the legal conditions to be considered employees. This contribution focuses on team sports, with football as a typical example, because in this context exercise of authority is more obvious and discussions on the relationship with labour law are most acute. Furthermore, this article examines the specific legislation and jurisprudence concerning athletes. In the Belgian legal order, sports professionals constitute a separate category to which the legislator has given special status by adopting a lex specialis to the general Employment Contracts Act. Nevertheless, there are still discussions about the social protection these sports professionals enjoy compared to regular employees and non-professional athletes. Beyond that, the status of athletes who do not reach the remuneration threshold to fall within the scope of the Sports Professionals Act, remains unclear. Recently, a dichotomy was created within paid amateur football, showing a desire to keep some athletes out of the scope of labour law. However, labour law is mandatory in nature, so the question is whether this dichotomy can continue to exist. This article will make it clear that the relationship between labour law and sport remains a difficult one.