Indicator history

Restrictions for foreign nationals in Slovenia for  participating at certain level of sports competitions on national level or gaining certain status have been established by the sports legislation or by rules of national sport associations.

For  example, in case of football the EU nationals have unlimited access to all levels of competition of all age categories, provided that an individual player is registered with the Football Association of Slovenia. On the other hand, a club may register an indefinite number of third country nationals, but only three may appear at the matches of the First National Football League for seniors. In addition, in all lower senior leagues, a club may accredit only one player for a specific match.

In alpine skiing, a foreign skier, be it the EU national or the third country national, may be registered with a Slovenian club only upon the approval by the Ski Association of Slovenia and the Internationa Ski Federation.

With regard to athletics, only foreign nationals with the permanent residency permit, and those who have registered with the Athletics Association of Slovenia, may participate at all types of national championships in all age categories. Other groups of foreigners may only appear at senior level competitions, whereby they are excluded from 100 and 200 m races. With respect to indoor competitions, they are only entitled to compete in qualifying rounds.

According to current legislation the status of the top level sportswoman/sportsman can only be  granted to Slovenian citizens; the status provides various benefits covered by the state budget.

Also, according to the Rules on Scholarships for Working in the Field of Sport, only Slovenian citizens may apply for scholarships.

As for the private work in sports, it may be performed by a foreign individual, provided that he/she obtained appropriate level of education, has a licence for performing work in sports, has not been by a court order banned to perform work in the relevant domain, has approved command of Slovenian, and has been in possession of the permanent residence permit.

Sources:

Racism, ethnic discrimination and exclusion of migrants and minorities in sport: A comparative overview of the situation in the European Union, 2010, http://fra.europa.eu/fraWebsite/attachments/Report-racism-sport_EN.pdf. Date of access: 19.1.2012.

Preventing racism, xenophobia and related intolerance in sport across the European Union, Country Report Slovenia, 2009, Peace Institute.