Disputes and resolutions in professional athlete contracts

In our thesis, the scope, subject matter, legal and formal elements of professional athlete contracts, the parties to the contracts, the rights of the parties and their obligations arising from the contract, the termination of professional athlete contracts, the consequences that may arise in the event of termination, the dispute resolution methods arising from professional athlete contracts, the arbitration authorities in the field of sports in our country and the rules regarding the applications to be made to these authorities are examined. Then, a "survey form" was used to obtain quantitative data from the athletes in 4 sports clubs operating in the province of Elazig, 2 professional men's football teams and 2 professional women's basketball teams. The qualitative group of the study consists of lawyers working in the city of Elazig. A semi-structured form was used to obtain qualitative data from twenty-seven lawyers. Licensed SPSS 22.0 statistical program was used for the analysis of the data obtained in the quantitative phase of the study. Descriptive (percentage, frequency) statistical analysis was used to analyze demographic information and survey data. Licensed QSR NVIVO-10 program was used for the analysis of the data obtained in the qualitative phase of our study. As a result of the study, it was seen that the participants did not have detailed information about the resolution of disputes arising from sports contracts. The fact that athletes and sports clubs do not know enough about their rights will lead to loss of rights in possible conflicts. For this reason, in order to prevent negative situations, it is necessary for athletes, clubs and managers to follow programs on sports law, to cooperate with federations, to work with lawyers knowledgeable in the field of sports law, etc. recommendations were found to be useful. Key Words: Sport, Law, Sport Law, Athlete Contracts, Sport Dispute