Spain told to look into football-related amateur sport restrictions

The Commission has sent Spain a letter of formal
notice asking the government to look into claims
that the Spanish Football Federation’s amateur sport
restrictions discriminate against EU nationals.

Spain has been given two months by the
Commission to look into claims that the general rules of
the Spanish Football Federation discriminate against EU
nationals. The federation is said to
be refusing to grant amateur licences to Community
nationals so they can take part in certain
competitions. It all started when an Erasmus
student from Germany, who was not allowed to participate
in football matches for an amateur club in the Valencia
area, wrote to the Commission two years ago.

The Commission says the rules specifically
prohibit such players from taking part in national
competitions and impose an age limit (23), which is not
applicable to Spanish players, for certain regional
competitions. It regards these restrictions as
running counter to Community law, and in particular
Article 12 of the Treaty establishing the European
Community.

A spokesperson from the Spanish ‘Consejero
Superior de Deportes’ [sports ministry] said that
“Spain was respectful of the Commission’s
decisions and was gathering information as regards
possible discrimination”.

“The Spain case was picked up by the Commission
following a complaint by a student on an Erasmus
exchange. 
There may be similar problems
in other Member States so this gives them a chance to get
their houses in order,” said Education and Culture
spokesperson Frederic Vincent.

Based on the Commission’s press release, Dr
Richard Parrish, author of ‘Sports law and policy in
the European Union’, takes the view that “the
Commission is concerned that a worker’s right to be
joined by their family in the host country, and the
integration of that family into their new surroundings,
may be undermined by rules such as those adopted by the
Spanish Football Federation”. He adds that
“given the legal position contained within primary
and secondary EU law and given statements of political
will such as the 2000 Nice European Council Declaration
on Sport, it would be anomalous for nationality
restrictions in amateur sport to persist”.

A letter of formal notice is the first step
in a procedure that could ultimately lead to proceedings
at the European Court of Justice.

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