Sports Law 2025 Comparisons

Doping is not yet considered a criminal offence under the Ecuadorian Criminal Law (Código Orgánico Integral Penal) or any other legal document.

The only substances on the WADA prohibited substances list which are criminalised are the so-called social drugs like cocaine, heroin and fentanyl.

The national anti-doping agency in Ecuador is the Unidad Nacional Antidopaje del Ecuador (UNADE) which has jurisdiction to impose sanctions in doping cases. The UNADE is recognised by the WADA and has complete autonomy to act in all WADA-related cases. As well as the UNADE's jurisdiction, every Ecuadorian sports federation has to include recognition of the WADA in their by-laws for international purposes and the UNADE for national purposes. The Ecuadorian Sports Law (Ley del Deporte, Educación Físico y Recreación de Ecuador) also includes recognition of, and gives jurisdiction to, the WADA as an international institution that regulates all doping processes and the sanctions to be imposed for doping offences.

Only the football professional league in Ecuador and the Ecuadorian Football Federation have drafted rules regarding the possibility of match-fixing in football. This is because not even the Ecuadorian Sports Law mentions anything about match-fixing in sports.

In every Ecuadorian sports federation, a sanction for “misconduct and offence to sports integrity” has to be included. In these cases, the athlete, club or anyone sports-related could receive a disciplinary sanction according to the Disciplinary Code or Ethics Code of the particular federation. The Ecuadorian Olympic Committee works alongside the International Olympic Committee to help Ecuadorian sports federations implement a legal framework to fight match-fixing in sports with circulars and a complaints channel for athletes and stakeholders.

In the case of professional football, there was an important case related to match-fixing and sports betting in 2023. In that case, Club Libertad F.C received a sanction from the Disciplinary Committee of the LigaPro. The sanction was confirmed by the TAS. Libertad F.C started the 2024 tournament with four points deducted and a financial fine of USD30.000.

There is a new provision in Ecuador that prohibits the promotion of sports betting. However, this betting is not illegal so there is no particular legislation that prohibits sports betting. In line with the particular sanction of “misconduct and offence to sports integrity” there have been many disciplinary sanctions for sports betting that is treated as an “offence to sports integrity”.

The Ecuadorian Football Professional League is the first institution in Ecuadorian sports to take a step forward in this context and they have prohibited sports betting because of the landmark case of Libertad F.C in 2023.

In that sense, the LigaPro has created a new integrity department which will deal with all sports betting-related situations. By December 2023, the LigaPro accepted the petition to prohibit all sports betting by players and board members.

In the Libertad F.C sports betting case, Libertad F.C, received a sanction from the Disciplinary Committee of the LigaPro. This was confirmed by the TAS.

Libertad F.C started the 2024 tournament with four points deducted and an economic fine of USD30,000. In addition, the player Milton Bolaños, from Libertad F.C was suspended from playing football for two years. This was also confirmed by the TAS.

The Ecuadorian Olympic Committee is also now working with the International Olympic Committee to include specific provisions about manipulating competitions for each national sport federation in the rules of each national sports federation. These rules will include a prohibition on sports betting.

Disciplinary proceedings in Ecuador can be initiated by every national sports federation and each of them have the competence to impose a sanction on any of their affiliated members. The National Sports Federation should create a disciplinary committee or an ethic committee, such as in the LigaPro or in the Ecuadorian Football Federation. However, most sports in Ecuador do not have these types of committees.

With that in mind, a disciplinary proceeding for doping, integrity or betting offences normally unfolds as follows.

Firstly, the Disciplinary Committee of the Sports National Federation should receive a notification of any misconduct by the affiliated members to start a disciplinary proceeding. The Disciplinary Committee will then notify the affiliated members a disciplinary proceeding has been started so the person can defend themselves and send all of the documents to protect their interests.

When the affiliated members send their legal defence, the Disciplinary Committee will summon a hearing where the parties can submit the allegations to help the Disciplinary Committee make a final decision.

The decision can be appealed by any of the parties.

Key sports-related rights in Ecuador are the right to name stadiums, ticketing and the presentation right of the team or squad. This is something that happens every year but in the last five years has gained a lot of attention from sponsors and supporters alike. This increased attention has made Ecuador a more attractive international sports destination and seen international singers perform and former football stars such as Carlos Tévez, Ronaldinho, Sergio Agüero, Diego Forlan, Javier Mascherano, Allesandro Del Piero, Andrea Pirlo, among many others attend.

Ticket sales are also a big deal in Ecuador because there is still an important culture of going to stadiums on weekends. However, problems like violence in stadiums, illegal ticket sales and other criminality need addressing.

There are people that use the pretence of supporting their team or squad to commit all kinds of violence in a stadium and to make profits out of illegal ticket sales that in a lot of cases are negotiated with criminal gangs that buy all of the tickets to sell outside the stadium at huge mark-ups. For 2025, the LigaPro is introducing a new identification system for supporters and the anonymous and illegal ticket sales system is going to be prohibited by the Ecuadorian Sports Law and Criminal Law.

Online sales have also helped put a stop to those common practices.

Sponsors are very important in sports in Ecuador, especially football. The Olympic year is also very important for sponsors and they try to anticipate and negotiate with potential Olympic medallists. The most important consideration for a sponsor in Ecuador is to be connected to a national brand. In football, you have a multitude of options because of the interest in the sport. In other sports, sponsors try to connect with the principals of sports with their companies.

There is a very interesting way of attracting investors in Ecuador. This is by deducting taxes at the end of the tax year so that any company or investor spends a certain amount on a qualified sport project. The deduction will be set at an additional 150% of the amount spent on the sponsor activity. So for example, if an investor spends USD100.000 on a sports qualified project the following year the investor will be able to deduct USD250,000 from their tax liability.

Key terms of a standard contract between sponsors and sports rights holders include:

• parties;
• duration;
• objective;
• goals;
• limits;
• prohibitions;
• sports rights holder and sponsor obligations;
• sports marketing compliance;
• ambush marketing;
• economic obligations; and
• alternative dispute resolution procedures.

Broadcasters in Ecuador have a contract with the National Sports Federation. Unlike other sports, in the Professional Football League, negotiations are carried out between the broadcaster and the LigaPro. The LigaPro will negotiate on behalf of all Serie A and Serie B clubs in Ecuador.

The broadcaster will sign a contract of between USD15 million and USD20 million, which is then divided between all of the Serie A and Serie B clubs in Ecuador.

The LigaPro have included all legal protections to protect broadcaster rights and the income generated by the sale of TV rights.

In other sports, broadcasting is not possible because it doesn’t generate income.

Sports events are organised in Ecuador by the stakeholders specified in the Ecuadorian Sports Law. These include national leagues or associations, regional leagues or associations, regional sports federations and the National Sports Federation.

If a third person organises a sports event, they will need to obtain the authorisation of city sports federations and the National Sports Federation. The National Sports Federation takes control over the sports event but will work under a civil contract to protect the relevant interests.

Sports events in Ecuador are typically organised, managed and controlled by the organisers. The National Sports Federation and the city where the event is taking place will be responsible for enforcement related to the event.

Participation by athletes and fans will depend on whether the event is a national event with a lot of interest and if the event involves national or international competition.

There is no responsibility or legal document in Ecuador that establishes liability for sports events. Liability will therefore be determined by the contract concluded between the organisers, the owner of the event and the host city. In this case, liability will be limited by the Ecuadorian Civil Code and the contract signed between the parties. However, there have been multiple instances of tournaments where there is no equal liability for the organisers for injuries to competitors so liability is not correctly drafted in the Ecuadorian Sports Law at the moment.

The liability of athletes to spectators is determined by the Disciplinary Code of each national sports federation and the sanction is imposed after a disciplinary process. Sanctions are not imposed by an individual code of sports liabilities. In the same way, violence and disorder are controlled by the National Sports Federation with the support of the host city according to Articles 156 and 157 of the Ecuadorian Sports Law. All of the protection must be provided by the National Police Department. Where the National Sports Federation doesn't have a preventative Disciplinary Code, then the host city will be responsible for protecting spectators from violence and disorder.

Under the Ecuadorian legal system, the only legal form allowed for sporting bodies is the civil non-profit association. Sporting bodies in Ecuador can't sell shares or list on the stock market so all income needs to be reinvested into their projects. This means the structure of a club is very limited and depends a lot on sponsorship as well as broadcasting rights. This is because the Ecuadorian legal system does not allow Ecuadorian sports clubs to have investors. However, this has changed in the last few years with ownership of clubs being assumed by legal technicalities being used.

According to the Ecuadorian Sports Law, professional football clubs are structured as professional clubs and include the LigaPro and the Ecuadorian Football Federation. However, under the Ecuadorian Sports Law there are other types of structures such as:

• amateur sport clubs;
• high performance sports clubs;
• professional sports clubs; and
• adapted or paralympic sports clubs.

Clubs in Ecuador start as an amateur sport club (especially for all non-professional football) and high performance sport clubs are clubs with Olympic or semi-professional athletes.

There are no specific sports-related corporate governance codes in Ecuador. However, according to the Ecuadorian Sports Law, sports clubs need to comply with the election process in particular while board members should comply with a programme given by the Ecuadorian Sports Minister. However, in reality this has never happened before.

The Ecuadorian Sports Minister is in charge of applying the registration rules of the Club's board. If the process is incorrect, the club won't be able to register the board. This will have consequences for national sports federations which will include ultimately losing affiliation.

In the last two years a lack of regulations and ambiguous law have become a particular problem for clubs, sports federations and even the Ecuadorian Olympic Committee.

The board of any national sports federation or sports club which receives public funds must respond to the government.

The requirements for any person who is willing to become part of a board for a particular club or a national sports federation are very basic. The individual has to be Ecuadorian, 18 or older and a member of the sports institution. However, they do not need to be a professional or have previously practised sport.

The sanction for an insolvent sports organisation will depend on the by-laws of each national sports federation. Once again, professional football is the only Ecuadorian sport where sanctions will include points deductions or loss of affiliation in case of insolvency. Professional football organisations will also be sanctioned with points deductions or loss of affiliation if they fail to comply with a judicial decision.

Sports are funded by the Ecuadorian Sports Minister and Minister of Finance according to Article 130 of the Ecuadorian Sports Law. In order to receive central government resources, the National Sports Federation needs to go through a process of determining good use of national resources by assessing sports benefits, the societal impact of the sport and how it may develop in future. Every national sports federation that develops amateur sports or professional sports will have to fulfil all of these requirements.

National sports federations can also obtain their own resources by exploiting sports commercially by organising sports events, ticket sales, broadcasts, summer camps, etc.

In the last three years there has been a new legal disposition for investing in sports. This is because the last two Ecuadorian governments had no budget to construct infrastructure or prepare athletes for their competitions.

This new legal disposition is called double deduction for investments in sports and has been developed to help athletes, clubs and sport in general with investment from private investors that can receive a double deduction of the amount spent at the time of tax payment.

It is therefore necessary for athletes and clubs to develop a project that includes the amount to be spent and companies can use that qualified project to obtain a tax benefit after the investment has been made.

Trade marks are registered in Ecuador via the Servicio Nacional de Derechos Intelectuales (the “SENADI”) which is responsible for all intellectual property matters in Ecuador.

You have to start with a database search first to find out if a similar or identical brand is already registered.

If you don't have any problem registering the mark you have to proceed and fill the form in, in order to select the specific product or service you want to protect with your trade mark (name and logo).

The process takes approximately six to eight months until a final decision accepting or rejecting the filing is issued. If the trade mark is approved, title will be given in the next six months.

It is forbidden to register any trade mark similar or identical to a trade mark already registered or any trade mark that is considered immoral or that attempts to implement bad practices.

The advantage of registering a trade mark is the income that it can produce through commercial negotiations between sporting clubs with companies interested in exploring economic agreements. For example, Barcelona Sporting Club have their own ice cream with a leading ice cream company in Ecuador following a commercial agreement between the two institutions.

Like trade marks, copyrights and database rights are protected by the Ecuadorian Law of Social Economy of Knowledge, Creativity and Innovation by the SENADI.

The protection is conceded once you request the filing and register at the SENADI.

The most common way to demand and protect a copyright is by sending cease and desist letters to offenders.

Sadly, there are no significant cases relating to copyright and database rights in relation to football in Ecuador.

Legal recognition for image rights in Ecuador is entrusted to the Ecuadorian Law of Social Economy of Knowledge, Creativity and Innovation. It is very common to see Ecuadorian clubs include image rights clauses with national or international athletes, mainly in professional football. In addition to including image rights clauses, clubs do not register or protect the image right of each athlete at the SENADI. This means these image rights are unprotected and open to commercial exploitation by any third party.

Each professional club should protect the image right of the player in order to have it registered with the SENADI and enable it to have the necessary competence to use it.

Sport bodies and athletes need to draft intellectual property licensing contracts between clubs or athletes with any potential trade mark that may be relevant to this type of agreement. In order to exploit any intellectual property, you have to comply with the Ecuadorian Law of Social Economy of Knowledge, Creativity and Innovation and protect your intellectual property at the SENADI.

The only restriction for assigning intellectual property rights to third parties is to have a contract including specific clauses for the use of intellectual property rights, register it at the SENADI and obtain the licence agreement authorising the use of the intellectual property rights from the SENADI.

Sports data in Ecuador is still not completely developed for sports bodies or stakeholders to use. This means the only cases where the use of sports data can be found is in specific companies that use email or financial information to promote particular products or services of companies.

The athlete's sports data is basically used at a professional football level to enable the data of the football player to be used to evaluate their performance.

In 2025, we anticipate we will see more spectator data used. This is because the Ecuadorian Professional Football League will introduce the FAN ID system. This will enable data about the spectator to be recorded. This data could then potentially be used for commercial purposes.

The data protection law in Ecuador is very recent and has never been used in a sports context so there are no related cases concerning athletes, clubs, sporting bodies, spectators or fans.

The national court system in Ecuador has relegated roles for disputes involving sports bodies because of procedural delays, the lack of specific sports law knowledge and corruption as well as various other concerns about the national court system.

Each national sports federation has competence to create an independent dispute resolution chamber within its organisational structure instead. This chamber has competence to decide on sports law-related topics, such as labour contracts, contractual relationships with clubs and training compensation, among others. It is not necessary to use the national judicial system to initiate a claim as it can be heard by the dispute resolution chamber of the National Sports Federation.

Every sporting body prefers to go to the dispute resolution chamber in its own sport to obtain justice rather than go through the national court system.

Arbitration has gained a lot of attention recently because of the agility, lack of trust in the regular judicial system and the possibility of obtaining quick results in specific legal areas. The two most recognised arbitration centres in Ecuador are in Guayaquil and Quito. However, there is also at least one in key cities across Ecuador.

According to the Ecuadorian Sports Law, arbitration in the sports system is recognised. However, the problem is that there is not a unified arbitration chamber for sports. The only sport that has implemented arbitration is football and only because of a request from FIFA. The Ecuadorian Sports Law allows all sports to include arbitration but they have not included it so far.

The power of sports governing bodies in Ecuador to enforce sporting or financial sanctions is contained in their statutes, which are approved by the affiliated members and by the Ecuadorian Sports Law.

The power to enforce sanctions by the sports governing bodies is included in their statutes and detailed in the disciplinary code of each sporting body. The autonomy given to each sports governing body is given by the international sports federation and accepted by the Ecuadorian Sports Minister. Sadly in recent years we have seen how the Ecuadorian Sports Minister has intervened in different national sports federations if they do not comply with specific regulations issued in line with the Ecuadorian Sports Law.

If a party is willing to appeal a decision they can do so before the appeal tribunal of the same sports federation or present an appeal to the TAS under the Ecuadorian Sports Law.

Relationships between sports organisations and players are usually handled in a pretty unform way as many club owners don't like to negotiate with agencies or they prefer to work with a particular agent. This means that a lot of relationships suffer from bad communication. Club owners prefer this way of handling relationships because it allows them to save some money on the contract.

The only professional sport in Ecuador is football. This means they have the only legal obligation to employ football players. Football players are therefore the only athletes that must be employed by the club. Most contracts for players include labour law clauses and just a few sports law clauses because it is very common to see a single contract template which is used for multiple purposes in Ecuador.

Salary caps are not enforced in Ecuador. Professional players have a minimum salary instead.

It is not possible to provide a list of a particular type of player contract because there are lots of mistakes in contracts. However, in order to be as precise as possible, buy-out clauses are the clauses which often have the most drafting mistakes. This makes negotiating an international transfer very complicated.

The only rules for employers and employees in Ecuador are in football because it is the only professional sport. All other sports are not obliged to sign a labour contract with athletes so there is no employer-employee relationship.

The most well-known cases are the ones where professional football clubs do not register the labour contracts in line with the rules governing employer-employee relationships. This failure to comply causes problems when it comes to competence to decide labour dispute cases.

Another problem that arises with the employer-employee relationship rules are the payment justification documents known as payment roles. Payment roles are necessary to justify the payment of the player's salary and if those documents are not signed by the player, professional football clubs can have points deducted by way of sanction.

There is no such thing as a special visa for foreign athletes. The only visa a foreign athlete needs is a labour permission which is given by the Foreign Minister. This labour permission can only be given for professional footballers. A labour permission for all other athletes that come to Ecuador is not necessary because there is no obligation to sign a contract with any other athlete.

The number of foreign athletes in football is limited to eight by the Competition Rules of the LigaPro. In tournaments organised by the Ecuadorian Football Federation, the number of foreign players is also capped under the Competition Rules. However, the level of the cap will depend on the type of tournament.

Finally, there is no relevant visa restriction for foreign athletes. However, there are multiple benefits in terms of migration for athletes who are born in Peru, Colombia, Bolivia or Chile.

Football is the only women's sport in Ecuador. All other sports are not considered professional, so there is no requirement for clubs and female athletes to sign a labour contract. This lack of a requirement to sign labour contracts with most players exists in football as well. In addition, the professional female football tournament only lasts three months so the contracts will last for three months at most. For the remainder of the year, the club will not be obliged to pay.

At the start of this year, the Law of Equality on Salaries was approved. It is supposed to be implemented for football as well. It is hoped that with this Law a line for new legal requirements to protect women’s sports can start to be drawn.

One of the most significant women's sports law cases happened last year. The case involved a very well-known club and several female football players who received authorisation to finish their contracts with the former club by just cause in line with Articles 12 bis and 14 bis of FIFA's RSTP. The dispute resolution chamber of the Ecuadorian Football Federation accepted the just cause defence because despite allegations salaries had been unpaid, the former club proved that it had paid all the amounts allegedly unpaid.

There is no recognition for specialised esports clubs in Ecuador. This is because they can't be created under the Ecuadorian Sports Law and be registered by the Sports Minister. Despite this, the esports industry is growing significantly year on year and there are various tournaments and skilful gamers. There are sadly no legal obligations for clubs, gamers, owners or investors so it is still a very informal industry in Ecuador. There is no obligation for labour contracts for gamers, intellectual property rights or broadcasting rights but in the coming years it remains to be seen how these legal aspects are considered more and included in the industry.

There is no particular non-fungible token (NFT) regulation in Ecuador. However, it could be covered by the Intellectual Property Regulations.

The only sporting body to have used the NFT market is the Ecuadorian Football Federation. However, it did not have a big impact on Ecuadorian society.

There is no particular AI regulation. However, it could be covered by the Intellectual Property Regulations.

There is no particular metaverse regulation in Ecuador. However, it could be covered by the Intellectual Property Regulations.