Abstract
Being selected as a national representative means a great honour to the athlete. For the private sport governing bodies, selection and training of national team members are their essential jobs. However, these ‘private’ sports organizations were used to be controlled by the public authoritative sectors in Taiwan, and continue to run under local government agency’s supervision or guide. This study aims to clarify on what grounds can Taiwanese government claim its legitimacy on intervention in private sporting affairs; moreover, to settle the legal issues derived from national teams related disputes. To analyze government’s role in sporting affairs and its practice in Taiwan, this article begins with the discussion on the normative structure which built upon statutory regulations such as the National Sports Act, the Civil Code, the Civil Associations Act and other relevant administrative rules. The research of these regulations helps to explain the official authority’s duties and the legal nature of sporting associations. Followed by introducing some judicial cases raised by athletes or sports associations, this study explores domestic courts’ opinions on national athletic teams and sporting events related disputes to figure out the common approach of the judicial review on sporting affairs. Finally, through a comparative study on Australian cases, this article focuses on the critical characteristic of contracts in sports area and contract law’s application on selection policy and selection agreement. This study discovers that: first, the government is obligated to provide necessary aids and supervisory measures to private sports organizations but the public sectors only have limited duties and power on private sporting affairs, including national athletic teams related business; second, courts tend to be reluctant to intervene in private sporting organisations’ domestic disputes unless there is a breach of statutory regulations or there are some factors connecting with the administrative disposition. In conclusion, the domestic sport governing bodies in Taiwan, as the cornerstone of sports area, have to take main responsibilities of national teams affairs and shall perform good governance in organisation administrations.