Improving data protection in sport: Human rights, data protection, and sustainability (Part 2)

With the increased importance of data, human rights and sustainability in sport, an important question arises, how can the protection of personal data in sport be improved? There are many challenges to be considered. It is evident that even very comprehensive regulations such as the EU General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) do not contain any sport-specific requirements. For example, the processing of health data is generally not permitted for the purpose of fulfilling a contract, with the exception of certain scenarios (mostly) in the employment relationship, which can lead to a variety of practical challenges in the processing of sports data1.

Challenges can arise from the often non-transparent collection and evaluation of enormous amounts of data (e.g. in the area of scouting) (see Part 1 of this article). In particular, the cross-border nature of professional sport in these cases of extensive data processing also leads to questions regarding the applicable law and the associated level of protection.The corresponding protection granted under human rights law are also critical to consider.

This article analysis and provides some suggestions of how sports organisations could improve their data protection regulations, drawing on examples, such as the collaboration between FIFA and FIFPRO.