Kolpak ruling

Kolpak ruling
European Court of Justice
Submitted 28 November 2000 Decided 8 May 2003
Full case name	Deutscher Handballbund eV v Maros Kolpak
Case	C-438/00
CelexID	62000J0438
Case type	Reference for a preliminary ruling
Chamber	Fifth chamber
Nationality of parties	Germany
Procedural history	Oberlandesgericht Hamm, Beschluß vom 15 November 2000 (8 U 139/98)
Ruling
The first indent of Article 38(1) of the Europe Agreement establishing an association between the European Communities and their Member States, of the one part, and the Slovak Republic, of the other part, signed in Luxembourg on 4 October 1993 and approved on behalf of the Communities by Decision 94/909/ECSC, EEC, Euratom of the Council and the Commission of 19 December 1994, must be construed as precluding the application to a professional sportsman of Slovak nationality, who is lawfully employed by a club established in a Member State, of a rule drawn up by a sports federation in that State under which clubs are authorised to field, during league or cup matches, only a limited number of players from non-member countries that are not parties to the Agreement on the European Economic Area.
Court composition
Judge-Rapporteur Antonio Mario La Pergola
President Gil Carlos Rodriguez Iglesias
Advocate General Christine Stix-Hackl
Legislation affecting
Interprets article 38 of the Europe Agreement with Slovakia

The Kolpak ruling is a European Court of Justice ruling handed down on 8 May 2003 in favour of Maroš Kolpak, a Slovak handball player. It declared that citizens of countries which have signed European Union Association Agreements have the same right to freedom of work and movement within the EU as EU citizens. Thus any restrictions placed on their right to work (such as quotas setting maximum numbers of such foreign players in sports teams) are deemed illegal under EU law. The legal actions in Germany set a precedent for professional sports in Europe, which have had a wide-ranging effect, especially in regard to English county cricket and European professional rugby.

A Kolpak player, or Kolpak, was a term used in the United Kingdom for people from overseas playing in the domestic leagues in cricket and both rugby codes, who were subject to the Kolpak ruling. However, the system no longer applies in the UK, following its exit from the European Union, which came into effect in 2020.^[1]