RELIGIOUS FREEDOM OF ATHLETES: LEGAL REGULATION AND SOME CONTROVERSIAL ISSUES

Religious freedom is a fundamental right that can hardly be separated from the essence of the person and, therefore, can be manifested in different areas of life, including sport. Religion and its manifestations in the sports field should not cause conflicts or difficult situations to resolve. Neither would a prohibition or limitation of any religious manifestation to the athlete be reasonable or legally acceptable. However, certain religious observances could be considered to alter the performance or progress of meetings or sports events, such as the observance of Ramadan. To all this, we must add the employment relationship established with sports clubs or societies, in which case, compliance with the athlete's religious prescriptions could breach the job duties to which they are obliged (training, participation in tests, matches, transfers...). Among the suggested guidelines to solve these assumptions we will refer to the technique of reasonable accommodation, in order to minimize the conflict and detail in what cases and how it can occur without causing harm to the athlete in the exercise of their religious freedom or to the sports entity to which it is subject to work or to which it is attached.