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Advocate General Delivers Opinion in Case C-115/22 | NADA e.a.

 

Anti-doping and data protection: Advocate General Ćapeta considers that a national anti-doping authority which publishes personal data of a doped professional athlete on the internet is not in breach of the GDPR.

 

According to Press Release No. 142/23 of September 14, 2023, the Advocate General delivered his Opinion (“Opinion”) in Case C-115/22 | NADA e.a.

This Opinion is submitted in the context of the resumption of the proceedings in this case (“Case”). Advocate General Ćapeta is of the opinion that a national anti-doping organization publishing the personal data of a doped professional athlete on the internet does not violate the GDPR.

According to the facts of the case;

  • An Austrian professional middle-distance runner has been found guilty of violating Austrian anti-doping rules. The Austrian Anti-Doping Legal Committee (Österreichische Anti-Doping Rechtskommission, ÖADR) declared all of the athlete's results for the period in question invalid, canceled his entry fees and/or prize money and banned him from participating in any sporting competition for four years.
  • The Independent Anti-Doping Agency (Unabhängige Dopingkontrolleinrichtung, NADA) has also published the athlete's name, the anti-doping rule violations, and the length of the suspension in the table of suspended athletes on its public website.

In this opinion, Advocate General Tamara Ćapeta stated that;

  • On the question of the merits, Advocate General Tamara Ćapeta first considers that the GDPR cannot be applied to the factual circumstances of the case. In her view, anti-doping rules primarily regulate sport as a sport.
  • They relate to the social and educational functions of sport rather than its economic aspects. There are currently no EU law rules on Member States' anti-doping policies.
  • The Advocate General is therefore of the view that the factual circumstances of this case fall outside the scope of Union law and therefore outside the scope of the GDPR.
  • Interference with the rights of professional athletes through public disclosure may be justified by the preventive purpose of deterring young athletes from committing doping offenses and informing relevant stakeholders.
  • Advocate General Tamara Ćapeta further explains that in modern societies, the only way to fulfill a generalized disclosure obligation is to publish on the internet. Printed publication alone can no longer be considered a sufficient means of making information available to the public.

As a result, Advocate General Ćapeta is of the opinion that a national anti-doping organization publishing the personal data of a doped professional athlete on the internet does not violate the GDPR.

You can access the press release here.

You can access the full text of the Opinion here.

Kind regards,

Zumbul Attorneys-at-Law

info@zumbul.av.tr