AUTONOMY AND RESPONSIBILITY OF MODERN SPORT: BETWEEN NATIONAL STANDARDS, THE APPLICABILITY OF EUROPEAN UNION LAW AND MARKET MECHANISMS

ABSTRACT The heterogeneous nature of sports relations, which are subject to the regulation of sports law, predetermines the different nature of regulation, which in turn provides for a different “autonomy” of sports organizations. The autonomy of individual and collective action is possible only in the existence of normative systems and cultural models that allow different degrees of conformity to their prescriptions and requirements. The research aims to reveal some legal, sociological, and practical aspects of autonomy in sports, and features of manifestation on a national and European scale. The study‘s objectives are: normative documents, case law in connection with the issues discussed at the level of Bulgaria and the European Union, recommendations, reports from various committees, and others. To solve the main tasks, achieve the goal and prove the hypothesis, a complex research methodology of normative and literature sources, content analysis, and included observation has been applied. Conclusion: The globalization of sport is increasingly shifting the legal framework of the international sports system to international sports bodies such as the International Olympic Committee, the World Anti-Doping Agency, and international sports federations. A significant effect of this change has been the erosion of the ability of domestic legal systems to intervene, especially when the rules of international sports bodies conflict with domestic norms and values. Changing regulatory acts that unjustifiably limit the autonomy of sport, in most cases, sports arbitrations deal with the imposed doping-related penalties. Possibilities for improving the work of the arbitration autonomy of sports organizations have been opened. There is a risk of limiting the autonomy of the sports industry, of interference, and on the other hand, there is another risk - reaching such a kind of sports autonomy which will be gradually withdrawn from national jurisdictions.