O controlo da vida privada do praticante desportivo profissional pela entidade empregadora desportiva

Abstract

An employment contract signed between a football club and a player is subjected to labour regulations and specific legislation, as well as the Labour Code, provided the law is compatible, with professional football being broadly accepted as a mean of organised work. The particularities of football as an activity justify the existence of specific legislation, which can also be seen as in regards to what would be the rationale behind the questioning of the need to (or not to) comply with players’ personality rights by the football team, especially in regards to not respecting their right to privacy and intimacy as a consequence of trying to ensure that their athletes are in their best physical condition to achieve the best results in matches the players participate in. This matter is still current, because of the development of new technologies that allow football clubs to control their athletes’ activity not only during work hours, but also when the player would typically not be available to be controlled in such a way – in other words, in regard to what they do outside of work. These are the reasons why this dissertation will focus on what would be the limits (or if there are any) to what a football club can control in regard to the players’ lives and actions if it means they would not be respecting their right to privacy and intimacy. In order to do so, we will talk about contracts for professional athletes, worker’s personality rights, especially football players’, including specificities in conformity with Law n. 54/2017, of 14th of July, while also mentioning the Constitution of the Portuguese Republic and the Labour Code. At last, we will analyse if there are (or there are not) limitations to the club’s control over the players’ right to privacy and intimacy.

Date of Award	17 Jul 2024
Original language	Portuguese
Awarding Institution	Universidade Católica Portuguesa
Supervisor	Ana Cristina Ribeiro Costa (Supervisor)