How the GDPR could impact the handling of sports disputes

All but a slim minority of sporting bodies will be affected by the General Data Protection Regulation1 (GDPR) on some level. Whether a governing body holding performance data, an anti-doping agency processing sensitive health records or a local club storing the addresses of junior members, sports organisations will have to comply with significantly altered obligations in respect of personal data.

And the stakes are high: the increased fines under the GDPR have been well-publicised; but perhaps less obviously, under the Code for Sports Governance sports organisations risk losing their public funding for non-compliance with applicable regulations (and Tier 3 funding requires governing bodies to demonstrate that they have appropriate policies and procedures for compliance).

This article highlights some of the principal enforcement risks facing sporting bodies under the new regime described by the ICO as a “game-changer”. It also considers how the GDPR might feed into existing facets of sports dispute resolution.