The online publication of the names of professional athletes who have infringed anti-doping rules may be compatible with EU law

In a recent judgement, the Court of Justice of the European Union stated that the online publication of the names of professional athletes who have infringed anti-doping rules may be compatible with EU law. The Court of Justice specifies that the Member States may, in principle, make provision for publication on the internet of the names of professional athletes who have infringed anti-doping rules, the duration of the ban imposed on them and the reasons for that ban. In addition, any athlete concerned must be able to lodge, as a preventive measure, a complaint with the competent data protection authority where there are specific indications that a publication concerning him or her is imminent or will take place in the near future. The Austrian Anti-Doping Legal Committee (the ÖADR) and the Austrian Independent Arbitration Committee (the USK) banned four athletes from participating in national and international competitions for a fixed period or for life, on account of their having infringed anti-doping rules. That publication is to include the first name and surname of the athlete concerned, the sports discipline practised, the infringement of the anti-doping rules committed, the sanction imposed, and the start and end dates of that sanction. They have submitted, inter alia, that the information published is covered by the concept of ‘data concerning health’, whose processing is prohibited in principle, as well as that of personal data relating to criminal convictions and offences, whose processing may only be carried out under the control of official authority.