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The contents of this section are provided as a complementary service to
our readers for information purposes only. Such contents are not intended
and therefore cannot be considered as formal legal advice or opinion. For
individual legal advice or opinion regarding your own situation, a lawyer
should be directly consulted. |
Welcome to
Francisco's Legal Corner.
This section aims to give you complementary
information concerning legal issues having an effect on the World of
Basketball. The scope of the legal issues dealt with in this section
is limited, for the time being, to European Union Law.
The author of this section, Francisco Rodero, is a Spanish lawyer
working in the heart of Europe: Brussels (Belgium). He is currently
specialising in Sports Law and his love and passion for Basketball
makes him to primarily focus his specialisation on our sport. |
 France will progressively open its labour market to nationals from the new EU's member states - Mar. 27, 2006 - by Eurobasket
France’s authorities recently announced they have decided to progressively open, as from 1 May 2006, their country’s labour market to salaried workers who are nationals from the new EU’s member states.
Moreover, they have specified that such opening will be mainly focused in sectors where workers are more needed in France, namely construction and HORECA sectors.
Therefore, unfortunately for basketball players, it seems they would not be able to immediately enjoy from such progressive opening of the French labour market.
I will keep you updated on further developments regarding this issue.
Francisco Rodero
Legal advisor
Brussels
E-mail: rodero@skynet.be
Website: http://users.skynet.be/rodero/
Spain, Portugal and Finland open their labour markets to workers from new EU's member states - Mar. 14, 2006 - by Eurobasket
As from 1 May 2006, the Governments of Spain, Portugal and Finland intend to open their labour markets to workers who are nationals of the new EU’s member states.
The two-year transitional period adopted on 1 May 2004 by most of the older EU’s member states will not be prolonged by Spain, Portugal and Finland. This means that these 3 countries, in addition to the United Kingdom, Ireland and Sweden which did not apply any transitional measures at all, will allow new EU’s member states nationals to access their labour markets in the same conditions that the rest of EU’s nationals.
Therefore, basketball players who are nationals of one of the following countries: the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia, will not need anymore a residence and work permit to play in Spain, Portugal and Finland as from 1 May 2006. The United Kingdom, Ireland and Sweden had already opened their labour markets as from 1 May 2004.
This is good news for European integration, free circulation of workers and in particular for basketball players who are nationals of one of the new EU’s member states.
Francisco Rodero
Brussels
E-mail: rodero@skynet.be
Website: http://users.skynet.be/rodero/
Cotonou basketball players' status in France - Nov. 8, 2005 - by Eurobasket
Continuing with the series of articles dealing with Cotonou basketball players’ status in the several basketball leagues of the EU’s member states, today I am going to study the situation in France as far as Cotonou players are concerned.
France’s Basketball National League (“Ligue Nationale de Basket” or LNB) includes in its website (http://www.lnb.fr/) the rules governing both French professional basketball leagues (PRO A and PRO B) for the 2005-2006 season. In fact, if you go to the Basketball National League’s official website by clinking in the link provided above, and then you go inside the section called “Partie officielle”, there you can find in the subsection called “Les competitions de la LNB” the above-mentioned rules for the 2005-2006 season (“Règlement sportif commun aux championats de France professionals PRO A et PRO B / Saison 2005-2006”).
This “règlement sportif” states in its article 12 that, as far as the top French league is concerned, that is to say, “championnat de France PRO A”, a maximum of 6 foreign players can be included in the scoresheet (“feuille de marque”). Out of these 6 foreign players, a minimum of 2 players must possess the nationality of one of the Cotonou countries. If the club includes in the scoresheet only 5 foreign players, then the mimimum number of players having the nationality of one of the Cotonou countries is reduced to 1 player.
Therefore, unlike in Belgium, in France the Cotonou basketball players are subject to a quota.
Can Slovenian players play in the EU? - Oct. 24, 2005 - by Eurobasket
A Eurobasket’s reader has asked me the above question.
The answer is that they can play in the EU but not yet without labour restrictions. This is because we are now in a two-year transition period by which the new EU member states’ nationals (among which Slovenians are included) are still subject to EU member states’ national labour regulations instead of EU law which guarantees a free movement of workers.
In other words, Slovenians basketball players, during this two-year transition period (which started the day of new EU member states’ accession on 1 May 2004) will need in general a resident and work permit in order to work in one of the EU member states.
There is a very interesting European Commission’s website called EURES that gives a more detailed explanation of the labour situation in every member state, the link of which I am reproducing here so interested readers can have a look at it:
http://europa.eu.int/eures/main.jsp?lang=en&acro=free&step=0
After this two-year transition period is finished by 1 May 2006, the EU member states will have to decide whether they still keep applying their national labour rules or instead start applying EU law and its free movement of worker’s rules.
Finally, let me draw your attention to the fact that all said previously is also applicable to na
Cotonou basketball players' status in Belgium - Sep. 29, 2005 - by Eurobasket
The Belgian Basketball Federation publishes in its website (http://www.basketbelgium.be/ - follow the link “Statuts → Partie Competition”) its competition statutes which, among other issues, deal with the Cotonou players’ status in the Belgian 1st division basketball competition.
Indeed, Article 171 of the competition statutes states that Cotonou players can participate in the Belgian competition under the same conditions than Belgian players provided that they are professional players who benefits for at least 8 months of the minimum wage as established by the Belgian legislation (1978 law) for foreign professional sportspersons.
Always according to Article 171, the license to play in Belgium is issued either by the French-speaking Basketball Federation or by the Dutch-speaking Basketball Federation depending where the club is located. In order to obtain the license, the player has to produce the following: (1) copy of a valid identity card or passport or proof of the inscription within the foreigners’ registry; (2) valid residence permit, covering the complete basketball season and a work permit; (3) release letter from the Federation to which the last club the player has played in is affiliated, unless the last club was a Belgian club.
Finally, if the residence and/or work permit is withdrawn from the player, the player’s license becomes as non-valid. The Cotonou player affiliation to the Belgian Federation is confirmed by an orange card.
European countries allowing Cotonou basketball players to play with same rights than national players - Aug. 22, 2005 - by Eurobasket
As announced previously, this section has a new feature. Readers can ask me by e-mail about basketball-related legal issues and I will publish an answer in this section. The scope is to give a reliable answer to that particular reader as well as others readers with the same or similar question.
In this case, a reader asked me which European countries allow Cotonou basketball players to participate in their national basketball competitions with the same rights than national players.
This is a question that, in order to be answered in a reliable manner, entails the study of each and every national basketball federation’s regulations. This is a difficult and time-consuming task and therefore it will require some time to be dealt with and completed.
Since there is no place in the Internet, as far as I know, dealing with the statuts of Cotonou basketball players in the different European basketball leagues, I think it is interesting and useful for Eurobasket's readers to be able to find in the same place, in this case in my legal corner section, a study of such status in several European leagues. This is therefore the task I intend to undertake in the next articles.
Francisco Rodero
Simutenkov case: does the recent ECJ's judgment mean an open door to the EU for Cotonou basketball players? - Apr. 20, 2005 - by Eurobasket
Note: In order to fully understand this article, it has to be read in conjunction with my previous article of 17 March 2005.
My previous article dealt with the issue of the Russian football player Igor Simutenkov, but at the time the European Court of Justice (ECJ) had not decided yet upon it. I studied the opinion of the Court’s Advocate General and explained the possible effects on Cotonou basketball players provided the ECJ agreed with the Advocate General’s views.
Well, this is precisely what has happened last 12 April 2005. In that date, the ECJ has adopted a judgment (Case C-265/03) that upholds the Advocate General’s views. In other words, the ECJ agrees with the Advocate General in the conclusion that Russian nationals, provided that they are lawfully established in the host country, have the same rights that the nationals of the host country as far as working conditions are concerned thanks to the clause of the EU-Russia Agreement that prohibits discrimination based on nationality.
The main issue to be considered in the present article is whether this judgment, whose scope is limited prima facie to Russian nationals, can be applicable as well to basketball players who are nationals of ACP countries signatories of the Cotonou Agreement. In other words, does this judgment mean an open door to the EU for Cotonou basketball players?
My opinion is that it may. The only 100% certainty as far as this issue is concerned can only be delivered by an ECJ judgment dealing with a Cotonou national.
Without entering in complex legal explanations that could
Simutenkov case and its possible favourable effect on Cotonou basketball players' status - Mar. 17, 2005 - by Eurobasket
Igor Simutenkov is a Russian football player who could not play in Spain as Bosman B player (he was considered as an import player) despite the fact that the EU and the Russian Federation had signed a Partnership Agreement which included a non-discrimination based on nationality clause. A similar issue has already been dealt with when I studied the Kolpak case (Deutscher Handballbund vs Maros Kolpak) in two of my previous articles.
Mr. Simutenkov considered that he had a right to play in Spain as a Bosman B player based on the above-mentioned non-discrimination clause and on the fact that he was lawfully established in Spain (he had obtained a residence card and a work permit). Since the Spanish Football Federation did not recognise this right, Mr. Simutenkov decided to take his case to the Spanish law courts. The competent Spanish court addressed then itself to the Court of Justice of the European Communities for a preliminary ruling. The EC’s Court has not issued yet a Judgment on this case, but an Opinion has already been delivered by Advocate General Stix-Hackl. The Opinion is a part of the proceedings after which the judges start their deliberations which will lead to the adoption of a Judgment. It is important to bear in mind that the Advocate General’s Opinion is not binding on the Court.
Advocate General Stix-Hackl’s Opinion states that Mr. Simutenkov has effectively the right of playing in Spain as, what it is called, Bosman B player because of the non-discrimination based on nationality clause included in the Partnership Agreement between the EU and the Russian Federation.
Provided that the pending Court’s Judgment confirms the content of the Advocate General’s Opinion, the interesting thing about this Opinion as far as Cotonou basketball players are concerned is that it could facilitate the interpretation that Cotonou players have to be considere
Typing error in English version of Directive 2004/38/EC on freedom of movement and residence - Feb. 16, 2005 - by Eurobasket
A reader of this section has kindly drawn my attention to the fact that there is a typing error concerning the publication of Directive 2004/38/EC on the right of citizens of the Union and their family members to move and reside freely within the territory of the Member States.
In fact, in my previous article dealing with this directive ("New EC Directive improving free movement for Union citizens and their family members of 24 August 2004") I mistakenly stated that the directive dealing with the above-mentioned freedom of movement and residence was Directive 2004/58/EC. This mistake from my part was caused by the publishing error committed by the Official Journal of the European Union in its English version which refers to Directive 2004/58/EC. Other linguistic versions of the Official Journal (for example the Spanish and French versions) refer correctly to Directive 2004/38/EC and NO Directive 2004/58/EC.
In conclusion, the correct reference is Directive 2004/38/EC of 29 April 2004.
I would like to thank the reader who draw my attention to this error.
Previous News
Free movement of workers after latest accession and transitional rules: study of the situation in Germany - Jan 17, 2005
Free movement of workers after latest accession and transitional rules: study of the situation in Belgium - Jan 11, 2005
Free movement of workers after latest accession and transitional rules: study of the situation in France - Jan 7, 2005
Free movement of workers after latest accession and transitional rules: study of the situation in Greece - Jan 6, 2005
Free movement of workers after latest accession and transitional rules: study of the situation in Italy - Jan 5, 2005
Free movement of workers after latest accession and transitional rules: study of the situation in Spain - Jan 4, 2005
Doping in sport discussed at European Parliament - Dec 1, 2004
European Parliament approved today Mr. Barroso's new European Commission - Nov 18, 2004
Discord in European basketball finally ended - Nov 4, 2004
New EU Constitution signed today in Rome - Oct 29, 2004
New EU Commissioner-to-be for sport says that Community measures concerning sport could start by 2008/2009 - Oct 8, 2004
New EC Directive improving free movement for Union citizens and their family members - Aug 24, 2004
Sport in the new European Constitution: what is it intended to achieve? - Aug 3, 2004
Sport has for the first time obtained a specific legal basis due to its inclusion in the EU's new Constitution - Jun 22, 2004
Further elaboration on my previous article regarding the Cotonou Agreement - Jun 9, 2004
Maps of ACP countries which are parties of the Cotonou Agreement - May 27, 2004
The Kolpak case and its possible applicability to the Cotonou Agreement - May 19, 2004
Free Movement of Pro Basketball Players after EU’s Enlargement: Transitional Arrangements - May 7, 2004
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