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Many changes have been made following the publication of Law No. 7405 on Sports Clubs and Sports Federations. Among the innovations introduced, the obligation of sports clubs to enter the process of incorporation may be regarded as the most fundamental.
Criminal Liability of Associations and Sports Clubs under the Law on Sports Clubs and Sports Federations
Many changes have been made following the publication of Law No. 7405 on Sports Clubs and Sports Federations. Among the innovations introduced, the obligation of sports clubs to enter the process of incorporation may be regarded as the most fundamental. The change undergone by the field of ‘Sports Law’ following the publication of the Law has also brought many uncertainties. To clarify these uncertainties somewhat: first of all, it is seen that the purposes for which institutions operating in the capacity of an ‘Association’ are formed cannot include “sport” or expressions relating to sport. The activities that associations carry out to serve their own purposes of formation, and expressions relating to sport in the areas in which those activities are carried out, may be used provided that they comply with the law. Basically, since an association’s having, at the source of its purposes of formation, the aim of carrying out sports activity is a quality that places that formation under the capacity of a sports club, the stated conditions are of great importance. Particularly considering Law No. 7405, associations bearing the capacity of Youth and Sports Club must, in order to become a sports club, apply within 2 years from the date on which the Law entered into force to the Provincial Directorates in the provinces in which they are located. Accordingly, formations that have not satisfied the necessary criteria will have to comply with the rules mentioned in the text.
The Law has set the condition that the activities planned to be carried out by associations must fall outside the official or private sports competitions defined in the Law and the training work for them, and has stated that associations can carry out activities only in line with their own association purposes. At the same time, the stated activities will not produce provisions or consequences for the Ministry of Youth and Sports, and those who take part in such activities will not be able to make any request of the Ministry of Youth and Sports. In public statements, and in promotional materials such as documents in the form of announcements or advertisements, relating to the activities they will carry out in line with their own purposes, associations will not be able to use, and will particularly refrain from using, words and expressions such as that they operate as a sports federation. The stated warnings are protected by the Law, and activities carried out by not acting in line with the association purposes, or by violating the warnings given, are taken into account within the framework of Law No. 7405 and are assessed within the scope of the provisions and consequences of the provision in paragraph 6 of Article 47 of the Law, which reads: “Persons who, without obtaining written permission from the Ministry or the sports federation to which the sport branch relates regarding the regulation and conduct of sport branches, operate within this scope or use in their titles, in all kinds of documents, announcements and advertisements, or in statements made to the public, words and expressions giving the impression that they operate as a sports federation, or who engage in such conduct, shall be punished with imprisonment from three months to one year upon the complaint of the Ministry or the relevant sports federation.” Associations and sports clubs cannot organise tournaments, championships, camps and similar activities without the written permission of the federation of the relevant sport branch. If they organise them nonetheless, the officials will be punished with imprisonment pursuant to the article of the Law.
