International sanctions against Russian sport: legal aspects

Aim. The paper presents a legal analysis of the normative documents of international sports organizations and their decisions related to the sanctions against Russian sport, strives to identify their correlation with the national legislation, and provides proposals for overcoming legal contradictions. Materials and methods. The following methods were used in the study: a comparative legal analysis of the Russian and international legislation and law enforcement practice, including acts and decisions of international sports organizations; a legal modeling of the prospects for Russian legislation and international judicial practice. Results. The analysis of the decisions of the International Olympic Committee and international federations shows the absence of any clear legal explanation for the exclusion of Russian and Belarusian athletes from international competitions. The practice of the Court of Arbitration for Sport with respect to the non-admission of Russian football teams to international competitions is based on the interests of international federations and the so-called competitive integrity at the expense of athletes’ rights. The FIFA decision to suspend foreign players from their contracts with Russian clubs is in direct contradiction with the Russian labor legislation. Conclusion. The main task of Russian sports authorities in challenging the restrictions imposed by international sports federations is to find arguments that point to the lack of a proper regulatory framework, the discrimination against Russian athletes, and a clearly disproportionate approach to balancing the interests of international organizations with the rights of Russian athletes. This paper is most relevant for those sports where the participation of Russian athletes significantly affects the quality of competitions (e.g., skiing, hockey, figure skating, etc.). A legal basis should be provided to overcome the unjustified suspension of employment contracts with a Russian sports organization as an employer. In this regard, it is proposed to make amendments to the Labor Code of the Russian Federation, obliging an athlete who unilaterally suspends an employment contract to pay compensation in the amount established by this contract or the law.