ABSTRACT
One cannot understand an industry without the set of standards that decisively determine its configuration and development. Sports have claimed the rank of ‘island’ due to the existence of their own ‘lex sportiva’ and the application of mechanisms to solve endogenous conflicts. However, the truth is that in the legal order of sports, state standards coexist with the standards of the sports organisations themselves. The stakeholders walk on shaky grounds where the specificity of sports collides with the public protection of fundamental rights. In this chapter, we delve into the legal framework that delimits the playing ground to understand better this thrilling world of sports and the organisations that manage it in two sister countries, Spain and Portugal.
