У статті розглянуто особливості засад трудових відносин у професійному спорті України та здійснено
порівняння з практичним досвідом зарубіжних країн із метою визначення шляхів удосконалення національного
законодавства. Проаналізовано науково-методичну літературу, виявлено, що в сучасних вітчизняних джерелах
недостатньо приділено уваги обґрунтуванню трудових відносин у професійному спорті. Визначено комплексний підхід
науковців до проблемних питань щодо регулювання трудових відносин спортсменів-професіоналів на підставі норм
цивільного та трудового права.
The formation of today’s professional sports in Ukraine is due to the processes of commercialization of higher sports achievements,
and, thus, the participation of athletes in competitions is considered as obtaining a money reward, which also becomes the main
activity, the only source of their income. The legal regulation, which arises between the participants of relevant competitions, requires
the concretization and coordination with the current legislative base of the legal status of professional sports and the only "rules of
the game" in the market of the relevant professional sports. In addition, the specific problem of the regulation of professional sports
relations as a new legal phenomenon is that they are practically not regulated by law, neither civil nor labor law. A professional sport
as an activity that equals to a work of a certain type is carried out systematically, has a certain purpose (participation in
competitions), is carried out at the expense of the employer and corresponds to "labor regulations" established by this employer
(training camp, training process, regimen, prohibition to use alcoholic beverages, doping, etc.), for which the athlete receives a
money reward due to the relevant employment agreement. Therefore, a professional sport, as a hired labor, is the subject of labor
law, and, thus, the social relations, who arise in the process of using the integral abilities of athletes for participation in competitions,
should be the subject of regulatory norms taking into account the international experience in the relevant sphere. The legal realities
of labor relations in the sphere of professional sports can be analyzed according to the experience of foreign countries, namely:
China, the Republic of Belarus, Spain and Greece.
On the way to European integration, the inevitable need is to develop a legal act or a supplement of the Labor Code, which
regulates the legal status of an athlete as an employee (working time, salary, vacation, transfer, etc.). In addition, much attention
must be paid to the development of physical training and sports by means of national and regional programs for the inhabitants of
every Ukrainian city, as motor activity promotes the appearance of professional athletes.
