191 ARTICLE CONTRACTS FOR SPORTS SERVICES By Dimitrios P. Panagiotopoulos Author Doctor of Sports Law, University of Athens, 1990 Professor of Law, University of Athens President of the International Association of Sports Law E-mail: panagiod@otenet.gr Abstract This paper investigates the relationship between professional— or simply remunerated—athletes and their respective clubs or sports organizations, as well as every aspect of their employment and relevant agreements. <...> Lex Sportiva divides athletes into three categories: amateurs, professionals and remunerated athletes. <...> The legal distinction between amateur and professional athletes, especially as far as it concerns the protection of their rights and personality, is strongly questionable in regard to its constitutional lawfulness. <...> This distinction should mean the differences between professionals and amateurs in the provision of sports services; amateur athletes have to constitute services offered to a club with no remuneration and are excluded from the scope of employment agreements. <...> What’s more, there is no any special legal definition for the term “amateur athlete”: it simply refers to those athletes who are not remunerated and who also do not play professionally. <...> Financial rewards or other means of support given by sports clubs, associations or federations to amateur athletes, in the context of their sports activity, do not constitute any form of remuneration and therefore, those athletes are not considered to be remunerated or professional ones according to Sports Law. <...> Keywords Sports services, Amateur athletes, professional athletes, agreement, contract, player, contractual obligations, employment disputes. <...> Volume 1 December 2014 Issue 2 www.kulawr.ru 192 KUTAFIN UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW TABLE OF CONTENTS I. Introduction. 192 II. <...> Sports Capacity . 194 A. Introduction . 194 B. Sports Capacity as a Legal Fiction . 196 C. Sports Capacity Attributed by Right . 197 IV. <...> The Provision of Sports Services . 199 A. Introduction . 199 B. Latent Agreement for Amateur Athlete Remuneration . 200 C. Amateur Athletes’ Rights . 202 V. Athletes’ Agreements/Contracts . 203 A. Nature of the Agreement. 203 B. Professional Athletes . 203 C. Provision of Sports Services . 205 VI. <...> Conclusion . 205 Bibliography . 206 I. <...>