Sports Law in Spain: Anti-Doping, Safety, and Violence Prevention

Posted on Dec 8, 2024 in Law & Jurisprudence

TITLE VIII. Control of Substances and Methods Prohibited in Sport and Safety in Sport

Article 56. Competence for the Preparation of Lists of Substances and Suppression of Prohibited Practices and Methods

1. The Higher Sports Council, in accordance with the provisions of international agreements signed by Spain, and taking into account other instruments in the same field, shall produce, for the purposes of this Act, lists of prohibited substances and drug groups, and determine the non-regulatory methods designed to artificially increase the physical abilities of athletes or modify the results of competitions.

2. The Higher Sports Council, in collaboration with the Autonomous Communities, Spanish sports federations, and professional leagues, shall promote and encourage the prevention, control, and suppression of the prohibited practices and methods referred to above.

Article 57. National Anti-Doping Commission and Functions

1. Subordinate to the Higher Sports Council, the National Anti-Doping Commission is created, with representatives from the State Administration, the Autonomous Communities, the Spanish sports federations, professional leagues, and persons of recognized prestige in the technical and legal aspects of sport, under terms established by regulation.

2. The functions of the Commission include, among others, the following:

a) Disseminate information concerning the use of prohibited substances and drug groups, non-regulatory methods, and procedures for monitoring, reporting, and research on the causes and effects, and promote and encourage prevention.
b) Determine the list of official sports competitions at the state level where control is mandatory.
c) Develop protocols and rules for conducting such tests, in competition or out of it.
d) Participate in the development of disciplinary rules, urge the sports federations to open disciplinary proceedings and, if necessary, appeal to the Spanish Sports Disciplinary Committee decisions affecting them.

Article 58. Anti-Doping Controls

1. All athletes licensed to participate in official competitions at the state level will be required to undergo the checks provided for in the preceding article, in competition or out of them, at the request of the Higher Sports Council, the Spanish Sports Federations, the Professional Leagues, or the National Anti-Doping Commission.

To this end, these athletes will be required to provide data for their location at all times, including their training program.

2. The Spanish sports federations shall provide the means for conducting such tests.

3. At state-level competitions, tests for the detection or monitoring of prohibited practices shall be made in government laboratories or those approved by the State.

Article 59. Healthcare and Mandatory Insurance

1. Healthcare derived from general citizen sports is a regular delivery system employed in health insurance, and also the general healthcare insurance provided by private entities.

2. Regardless of other special assurances as may be established, all sportspersons participating in official competitions at the state level must be in possession of compulsory insurance covering the risks to health resulting from the practice of the sport concerned.

In the event that healthcare is provided by an entity other than the insurer, the latter shall be bound to reimburse the costs incurred for such assistance, as provided in Article 83 of the General Health Law.

3. Depending on technical conditions and in certain types of sports, the Sports Council may require the Spanish sports federations, for licensing or participation in official competitions at the state level, that it is an essential requirement that the athlete has undergone a medical examination of fitness.

4. The conditions for the realization of medical fitness and the sports and competitions in which they are necessary will be established in the implementing provisions of this Act.

TITLE IX. Prevention of Violence at Sporting Events

Article 60. National Commission against Violence at Sporting Events

1. The National Commission against Violence in sports events is created, including representatives of the State Administration, the Autonomous Communities and local authorities, the Spanish sports federations and professional leagues most affected, sports associations, and persons of recognized standing in the field of sport and safety. The composition and functioning of the Commission shall be established by regulation.

2. The functions of the Commission include, among others that may be assigned:

a) Collect and publish annual data on violence at sporting events and surveys on this subject.
b) Produce reports and studies on the causes and effects of violence in sport.
c) Encourage and promote prevention.
d) Develop guidelines and recommendations to the Spanish federations, sports clubs, and professional leagues for the organization of those shows where the possibility of violence is reasonably expected.
e) Inform those draft provisions as requested by the public administrations responsible for sports events, especially those relating to police, sporting events, and technical regulations on facilities.
f) Urge the Spanish federations and professional leagues to amend their statutes to include standards on violence in sport in the disciplinary regimes.
g) Promote measures for the implementation of controls on alcohol at sporting events in high risk, and the prohibition to introduce dangerous items that could be used as weapons.
h) Promote information campaigns on prevention standards for this type of violence.
i) Promote and coordinate campaigns of citizen cooperation.
j) Propose a framework for action for voluntary groups.
k) Declare a sporting event as high risk, for the purposes specified in this Act and its implementing provisions.
l) Coordinate with the peripheral organs of the General State Administration, with roles in the prevention of violence in sport, as well as monitoring their activity.
m) Be required to inform the provisions relating to public events dictated by the Autonomous Communities, as they can affect state powers on preventing violence at sporting events.
n) In the framework of its own regulations, be one of the proponents of granting the annual National Award which recognizes the values of sportsmanship.

Article 61. General Police Regulations for Public Entertainment

The Government will develop the regulations required to adapt the General Police Regulations on Public Performance measures envisaged by this Law as regards the necessary conditions of security at sporting events.

Article 62. Groups of Volunteers for the Prevention of Violence

1. Professional Leagues and Clubs participating in their own competitions should set up voluntary groups in order to provide information to viewers, contributing to the prevention of risks and facilitating the smooth running of the show.

2. The National Commission against Violence at sporting events will propose the framework of action of these groups, the functions that may be entrusted, identification systems to the rest of the spectators, their rights and obligations, training and development, and recruitment mechanisms.

Article 63. Responsibility for Damage and Disorder at Sporting Events

1. The natural or legal persons organizing any evidence, competition, or state-wide sporting event or events that constitute or form part of these competitions will be responsible for damages and disorders that may arise from their lack of care or prevention, all in accordance and to the extent that is envisaged by international conventions on sports violence ratified by Spain. This responsibility is independent of that which they might incur in criminal or purely sporting terms as a result of their behavior in the competition itself.

2. Players, coaches, managers, and other persons subject to sport shall be liable for acts that may be contrary to the rules or actions to prevent violence in sport in accordance with the provisions of Title XI and the rules and regulations.

Article 64. High-Risk Encounters

Spanish sports federations and professional leagues must inform the police authority, competent in the matter referred to in this Title, in time, of the proposal for the meetings that can be considered high risk, according to the scales established by the Ministry of the Interior.

The declaration of a match as high risk by the Commission against Violence in Sports Events, following the proposal of the sports federations and professional leagues under the preceding paragraph, shall entail the obligation of clubs and sports corporations to strengthen security measures in these cases, which include at least:

Ticketing System.
Separation of rival supporters outside the area of the enclosure.
Access control for the strict enforcement of existing bans.

Article 65. Safety Coordinator at Sporting Events

1. Regulations shall govern the figure of the Security Coordinator at sporting events. This figure, framed by the police organization, will assume the tasks of management, coordination, and organization of security services on the occasion of sporting events.

2. In sporting competitions proposed by the National Commission against Violence in sports events, the organizers shall choose their own security manager, who, in the exercise of their duties during the development of the sport event, will follow, where appropriate, the Security Coordinator’s instructions.

3. The Security Coordinator shall coordinate the control office or organizational unit, the installation of which is mandatory in all sports of the highest caliber of professional competition in football and basketball, and in those in which the National Commission recommends it.

Article 66. Prohibition of Violent or Racist Symbols, Weapons

1. The introduction and display of banners at sporting events, symbols, and slogans that, by their nature or the circumstances in which they are displayed or used, can be considered as an act that incites, promotes, or helps violent, xenophobic, racist, or terrorist behavior, or as an act of undisguised contempt for sports participants in the sporting spectacle. The organizers of the shows are forced to withdraw them immediately.

2. The introduction and possession, activation, or launching, at the facility or premises in which sporting events take place or building, of all kinds of weapons or objects that could produce the same effects, as well as flares, firecrackers, explosives, or, in general, flammable, smoke, or corrosive substances, preventing entry to all those who try to introduce such objects or similar.

Article 67. Prohibition of Alcohol and Drugs at Sporting Events

1. The introduction and sale, consumption, or possession of all sorts of alcoholic drinks and narcotics, psychotropic substances, stimulants, or similar products is prohibited on the premises in which sporting events are held.

2. The containers of beverages sold or introduced into the facilities where sporting events are held must meet the conditions of rigidity and capacity established by regulation, after consultation with the National Commission Against Violence.

3. Persons entering or selling any kind of beverages in the sports grounds without complying with the restrictions set forth in the preceding paragraphs shall be punished by the governing authority.

4. The organizers of sporting events that occur in situations defined in Article 66 and in the preceding paragraphs of this article may also be punished if they failed to take measures of prevention and control.

Article 68. Selling Tickets for Sporting Events

1. All sports venues where competitions are played in the modalities of professional football and basketball should include a system for control and management of ticketing and access to the site. Professional Leagues shall make the corresponding provision in their Constitution and Bylaws for the closure of the sports facility as a penalty for breach of this obligation.

2. Entrance fees, material characteristics, and conditions of issue shall be established by regulation, after consulting the National Anti-Violence Commission, which shall report on the causes that can prevent access to the sports stadium for spectators, with provision as such, at least, the introduction of alcohol, weapons, objects that can be used as such, flares or similar, and that people are seeking to enter under the influence of alcohol, narcotics, psychotropics, stimulants, or similar substances.

3. The causes of prohibition of access to sports facilities will be incorporated into the regulations of the clubs and professional leagues, and shall also be visible at the box office and in places accessible to the boxes.

4. Statutorily set deadlines for the implementation of the measure referred to in paragraph 1 of this article, whose obligation may be extended to other sports.

Article 69. Responsible for Security Measures, Violations, and Penalties

1. The organizers and owners of facilities must provide the necessary safety precautions in sports grounds, in accordance with the law and regulations established for this purpose.

2. Failure to comply with the provisions and requirements in this area will lead to accountability and, where appropriate, the adoption of appropriate disciplinary action.

3. Owing to its impact on public order and security, administrative offenses covered in the following sections are classified as very serious, serious, and minor.

A) Very serious infringements:

a) Breach of the rules governing the holding of sports events, which prevents normal development and leads to significant damage to participants or to the public.
b) Repeated disobedience of orders or regulations of governmental authorities about the conditions of holding such events on issues affecting their normal and proper development.
c) Alteration, without fulfilling the formalities, of the capacity of the sports arena.
d) Breach of the security measures that pose a serious risk to those attending the sporting venues.
e) Lack of foresight or negligence in the correction of detected abnormalities or defects that pose a serious threat to the safety of sports grounds.
f) Involvement in violent altercations, fights, or public disorder at sports grounds or the surrounding area that cause serious damage or risk to persons or property.
g) Breach of the prohibitions referred to in Articles 66 and 67.1 of the Act when circumstances are at particular risk, danger, or participation in them, or where its application is an act of glorification of xenophobia, racism, or support and justification of violent or terrorist actions or neglect of their victims or family members.
h) Breakdown of the sanctions imposed on security and prevention of violence in sport.

B) Serious infringements:

a) The conduct described above in point A), a), c), e), and f) when the circumstances of injury, risk, or danger are to the extent expected.
b) Disobedience of orders or regulations of governmental authorities about the conditions of holding such events on issues affecting their normal and proper development.
c) Failure on the sports grounds of the control measures on access, retention, and evacuation, selling drinks, and insertion and removal of prohibited items.
d) Failure of the prohibitions referred to in Articles 66 and 67 of this Act if not the circumstances foreseen in letter A). g).
e) Unauthorized intrusion into the field of play, unless, as a consequence, it altered or seriously disturbed conditions for the holding of sports events or risked damage or injury to people or things, in which case it would constitute a very serious infringement.

C) Minor infringements:

All acts or omissions not defined as serious or very serious in this title which are contrary to the rules and regulations governing sporting events.

4. The sanctions for the Commission of the aforementioned infringements will be:

A) Imposition of economic sanctions as follows:

150 to 3,000 euros in case of minor infringements.
From 3000.01 to 60,100 euros in case of serious offenses.
From 60,100.01 to 650,000 euros, in case of infringements.

B) Besides the above-mentioned economic sanctions, the following may be imposed:

Disqualification to organize sports events for up to two years.
Temporary closure of the sports ground for up to two years.

5. In addition to the penalties provided in the previous paragraph, the following may also be imposed in response to the circumstances surrounding the facts, and particularly to their severity or social impact:

a) In the cases of paragraphs 3.A). e), f), and g), expulsion or denial of the interim sports arena or, where appropriate, banned from any sports stadium for a period between five months and five years. This penalty may be imposed also on those who commit the attitudes and behaviors referred to in Article 66 of this Law.
b) In the cases of paragraphs 3.B). a), d) e), expulsion or denial of the interim sports arena or, where appropriate, banned from any sports stadium for a period not more than five months, except in the case of sellers referred to in Article 67.3, which may reach up to five years.

6. Of the offenses referred to in this Article, the authors and those who collaborate with them as accomplices shall be administratively responsible. In the latter case, the economic sanctions shall be imposed according to the degree of participation.

7. 1 The disciplinary powers under this Article shall be exercised by the competent governmental authority and may seek prior reports from the sporting authorities and the National Commission Against Violence.

2 When appropriate penalty competition to the Central Government, the imposition of sanctions will be made by:

A) The government representative, up to 60,100 euros.
B) The Secretary of State for Security, up to 180,000 euros.
C) The Minister of the Interior, up to 360,000 euros.
D) The Council of Ministers, up to 650,000 euros.

The power to impose sanctions of temporary disqualification to organize sports events and the temporary closure of sports facilities up to the Secretary of State for Security, if the suspension period is equal to or less than one year, and the Minister of the Interior, where over that period.

8. In the exercise of sanctioning powers referred to in this Part, the principles and requirements contained in Title IX of Law 30/1992 of 26 November, the Legal System Public Administrations and Common Administrative Procedure shall apply, where not provided herein, especially in regard to the extinction of liability, limitation of violations and sanctions, enforcement of penalties, and general principles of prosecution.

9. The amount of the fines provided for in this Title may be updated by the Government on the proposal of the Minister of the Interior, taking into account the change in the official index of consumer prices.