The limits of intrusion into private life of a professional athlete: legal, ethical, and organizational aspects

Aim. The paper aims to identify the legal, ethical and organizational aspects of interest in the personality of a professional athlete and determine the legal limits of attention to his/her personality without violating the boundaries of privacy. Materials and methods. The paper involves the analysis of legislation and judicial enforcement in disputes about violating reasonable expectations of athletes in terms of personal privacy; the paper contains the synthesis of notions and theoretical provisions and summarizes the experience of foreign countries. Results. Analysis of legal provisions and court decisions on disputes about the invasion of athletes’ privacy allowed to formulate proposals for amendments to the corresponding legal acts aimed at improving the procedure of random testing for illicit substances in athletes. The arguments in the article allows to conclude that there is a need for clarifying the legal status of an athlete. Legal, ethical, and organizational rules should be based on the need for balancing the private life of an athlete and his/her public position. Conclusion. There should be specific legal norms establishing doping testing procedures, medical and other examinations (these procedures are necessary exclusively for maintaining discipline and order in sports; their use solely to satisfy curiosity is illegal; testing procedures without special permission from law enforcement agencies result from the special needs of society and the state; testing procedures should be as gentle as possible for an athlete). There is a need for norms preventing coaches and persons who perform testing from improper disclosure of confidential information associated with training or control procedures. The athlete-club-media relationship should be regulated at three levels: legislative, corporate, and individual.