A&K Journal
A New Era in Sports and E-Sports Law: The Digital Test of the Rules
Sports law has ceased to be a narrow field regulating competition rules alone and has become a multi-layered area intertwined with competition law, employment law, data protection and intellectual property. In its Diarra judgment, the Court of Justice of the European Union held that certain FIFA transfer rules disproportionately restricted players' freedom of movement and competition between clubs — a reminder that the regulatory authority of sports federations is not unlimited and that the specific nature of sport cannot displace fundamental rights.
In football agency, licensing, fee caps and multiple representation in the same transaction remain under discussion, with FIFA's current rules reinforcing the protection of young athletes and greater transparency in representation. In anti-doping, the new World Anti-Doping Code entering into force on 1 January 2027 will require federations and national bodies to revisit their regulations, placing athlete health, the right to a fair hearing, fault assessment and proportionality of sanctions back at the centre of the agenda.
The picture in e-sports is more complex. The International Olympic Committee's announcement of a new approach to the Olympic Esports Games shows that the integration of e-sports into institutional sport is not yet complete. Because games are owned by private companies, e-sports raises questions distinct from traditional sport in relation to tournament rules, broadcasting rights, player contracts, cheat software, betting and personal data.
The central question for the future of sports law is not whether the game is played on the field or on a screen. It is who makes the rules, whom those rules bind, and to what extent athletes' economic and personal rights are protected. As sport becomes digital, law is moving out of the stands and onto the field of play.
Full text. This page presents an English abstract. The complete article is published in Turkish: Read the full Turkish article →