Latvian national basketball team’s player’s club match against Russian clubs has been a topic in Latvian media recently, here is a legal assessment of this issue.
The international tournament at issue
Latvian media began reporting in mid-July that Latvian national basketball player D. Bertāns’ club would participate in a pre-season tournament in Serbia with the participation of two leading teams of the Russian Federation.
Jauns.lv news: “Will Dāvis Bertāns play against Russian teams? His club “Dubai” has agreed to participate in the Occupier League Super Cup“
The tricky nature of D. Bertāns’ situation
First, Internet users are asking questions about the basketball player’s employer’s decision and the ethical side of the basketball player’s own possible participation.
Secondly, questions about the legal side of such participation.
Personal attitude
The basketball player’s attitude towards the ethical side of the issue seems to have been sufficiently analyzed by the Internet so far. One can only speculate whether a similar trend will continue in the future. It is clear that participation in such a tournament is primarily decided by the club management, not by an individual basketball player.
The filter of Latvian “Sports’ law”
The Latvian Sports Law contains a number of legal provisions regarding the participation of athletes in tournaments with Russian teams.
This situation is made especially tricky by the fact that Bertāns could soon be very useful to the national team in the Eurobasket 2025 games, and it would be a great pity to lose one of Latvia’s best players due to such a tournament, for legal reasons.
Sports law norms: Articles 16.1 and 17.1
First of all, it is necessary to understand what the criteria of the law are. The second part of Article 16.1 would apply to Bertāns, but Article 17.1 would not really apply.
Article 16.1. Prohibition on participation in sports competitions
(1) Sports teams registered in the Republic of Latvia, regardless of their legal status, are prohibited from participating in:
1) national championships and national cup competitions of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus;
2) sports competitions in international leagues of team sports games where more than half of the participants are teams from the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus.
(2) Athletes and sports workers are prohibited from participating in sports competitions held in the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus.
Article 17.1. Prohibition on organizing sports competitions
(1) It is prohibited to organize the following team sports competitions in the Republic of Latvia:
1) national championships and national cup competitions of the Russian Federation and the Republic of Belarus;
2) sports competitions in international leagues of team sports games where more than half of the participants are teams from the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus.
(2) In the Republic of Latvia, it is prohibited to organize competitions of national team sports games (adult, youth and junior) (hereinafter in this Article – national team) in which national teams of the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus participate under their own flag or in a neutral status.
(3) National teams of the Republic of Latvia in team sports games are prohibited from playing against national teams of the Russian Federation or the Republic of Belarus if they participate in competitions under their own flag or in a neutral status.
Bertāns as a player in the context of the Sports Law
In the current wording of the law, D. Bertāns as a player is only subject to a small part of the regulatory restriction.
His club is not registered in Latvia, not even in Europe and is not bound by the national regulation of Latvia.
The matches will not take place in Latvia, therefore the club has no reason to worry about Latvian norms territorially either.
The rule regarding the athlete’s participation in matches on Russian territory is not fulfilled, because Russian clubs will go to Serbia, which is an independent and sovereign state, whose autonomy Latvia fully recognizes.
The proportion of numerical tournament participants does not exceed the legally permissible “concentration”
Even if, theoretically, Bertāns would play for the Latvian team in the tournament and be the only national basketball player, the law would not punish this situation considering that “more than half” of the participants should have been from Russia or Belarus. This time, exactly half of the 4 teams are from Russia, so there is no “more” than half.
The sports law allows athletes or clubs to participate in international tournaments and compete against teams from Russia, as long as they are not hosted in Latvia (by analogy, we can think of Istanbul clubs in the Euroleague, which are not allowed to play against the Tel Aviv club in Turkey and thus such a Euroleague match took place in Riga).
Player’s employment contract?
No matter what the laws say and what society says about any of the choices, the most specific criteria for each athlete to receive a salary are written in their employment contracts.
Bertans’ contract with the club most likely stipulates the criteria under which the player will be able to receive his salary.
Usually, athletes are obliged to participate in all matches, if health permits. It is without doubt also the same that all is written in the contract, that, as deciding not to start with a unilateral decision – normal clubs will not have such leeway, even for the biggest superstars.
This can have serious consequences for the player.
The importance of the sequence of events
Secondly, it is important to evaluate the dates, or the sequence of events: Eurobasket will take place from 27.08 to 14.09. The tournament in Serbia will be on 24-25 September.
An athlete cannot be legally punished for a probability, but only for an actual fact.
So, in fact, the criterion of the Sports Law, which could theoretically deny participation in the national team and the tournament in Serbia at the same time, will not be able to apply at all, because the national team matches will be held earlier.
Bertāns is safe
Summing up all the conclusions, at least for the duration of the Eurobasket, this national team player appears to be legally safe!
This is of course not a binding legal advice, as it is based only on publicly available data, without regards to more specific details.