The Legal Status of Professional Athletes in Indonesia: Rethinking Employment Rights, Contractual Protection, and Collective Representation
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.65815/je814y41Keywords:
Professional athletes, sports employment, labor rights, athlete contracts, sports lawAbstract
Professional athletes occupy a distinctive position within the sports industry because their relationships with clubs and organizations combine employment, performance, commercial, and regulatory dimensions. Despite the professionalization of Indonesian sport, uncertainty may remain concerning the extent to which athletes are protected as workers and contractual parties. This article examines the legal status of professional athletes in Indonesia, focusing on employment rights, contractual protection, social security, and collective representation. Using normative juridical research, the study analyzes sports legislation, labor law, contractual principles, and international approaches to athlete employment. The study identifies potential gaps between the commercial expectations imposed upon professional athletes and the legal protections available to them. In particular, contractual arrangements may provide clubs with extensive control over athlete performance and career conditions while offering limited mechanisms for collective representation and bargaining. The article argues that professional athletes should receive meaningful labor and contractual protection without disregarding the distinctive characteristics of professional sport. A hybrid regulatory framework is proposed, combining labor protections with sport-specific contractual standards concerning remuneration, termination, injury, insurance, dispute resolution, and representation. Recognizing athletes as rights-bearing participants in the sports labor market would strengthen legal certainty and promote greater fairness in Indonesian professional sport.
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