Prospects of criminal and legal protection of professional sports in Russia

The professional component of modern sport, despite the impressive scale of sports events, is only in the stage of its formation. This is due to the lack of comprehensive legal (including criminal) support for all aspects of the activities of professional sports in Russia. At the same time, the normative support of this activity for a long period of time was carried out in accordance with the General concepts of sports and physical culture, depended on the attitude of the authorities to professional sports, economic development and other factors. In the current situation, criminal legislation has almost always remained aloof from both regulation and protection of public relations in this area. We believe that this approach was quite justified for the period of origin and stabilization of sport as an independent phenomenon in society, which dates back to the end of the XIX-beginning of the XX century. This stage is characterized by the formation of public attitudes to sport in General and its professional component in particular. At that time, the legislative framework was aimed more at combating gambling, betting and receiving money for participating in sports events. The state, through the establishment of criminal protection measures, tried to completely exclude the commercial component of sport.