Lo sport nell’ordinamento giuridico dell’Unione europea.

This chapter examines the Union's action in the field of sport. Such action is limited by the configuration of its competence, as conferred by Article 165 TFEU, which defines it as a competence supporting the action of the Member States. This article has thus far been interpreted with a certain degree of caution by the Court. Consequently, institutional acts are generally recommendatory or coordinating in nature. The specific nature of sport, recognized in primary law (the Treaties), does not exempt the sports sector from the application of Union law. Indeed, sports activities are subject to the provisions of the Treaties to the extent that they constitute an economic activity. Where rules adopted by a Member State, or more commonly in the case of sports activities, by sports federations or regulatory bodies (which are also subject to the horizontally applicable provisions of the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union concerning the free movement of goods, services, capital and persons) restrict or potentially restrict the free movement of such factors of production, the following scheme applies. The rule must be justified in order to be maintained; justifications are usually based on imperative reasons relating to the public interest, and the specific nature of sport is taken into account when assessing such derogations from the Treaty. It must be proven (and the burden of proof rests with the author of the measure) that the justified measure is necessary to achieve the objective and that there are no less restrictive measures which would be suitable for achieving the stated purpose.