O direito de arena nos contratos de trabalho do atleta profissional de futebol: uma análise da sua natureza jurídica perante a jurisprudência do TST

Abstract

The present work aims to analyze the special labor contract of the professional football athlete and to seek a definition about the legal nature of the right to arena of this athlete. For the development of this research, we used the labor law doctrinaire collection which deals with the labor issues of the professional football athlete, going through all the specificities brought by Pelé Law (Law no. 9.615/98), which establishes general rules on sports and determines that the right to arena has a civil legal nature. Thereafter, a study was drawn about the doctrinaire concept of the right to arena, since its origin until nowadays, as well as its clarifications as to the legal nature of such right; the necessary dissociation between the right to arena and the football athlete's image right was also verified, even though both are related to the athlete's image. Then, the competence of the Labor Court is analyzed in controversies inherent to the athlete with his clubs, in face of the violation of labor rights of such clubs. Lastly, further on, the case law of the Superior Labor Court was analyzed, when there was the need to define the legal nature of the right to arena. At the end of the study, it was concluded that the right to arena has a legal nature of salary, although this understanding does not have agreement with what is defined by the legislation.