Current issues of the implementation of the right to protect state symbols in sports activities

Abstract

This article is devoted to current problems of protecting the right of the state to use state symbols (anthem, flag) within the framework of international sports and other events. The subject of the research is to consider the right to perform the national anthem, display the national flag and other symbols through the prism of the state’s intellectual property. The current position of the Russian Federation on the international sports and political arena raises the question for the legal community of the need for legislative regulation of the state's intellectual property rights to state symbols. The authors analyzed the current positions of international organizations in the field of sports regarding the participation of athletes from the Russian Federation in international sports events. The subject of the study is also international legal acts related to the holding of international sporting events and regulations of international sports organizations and federations (IOC, FIFA, UEFA). The legal system, both at the national and international levels, should be structured in such a way that international sports organizations do not have the right to ban the performance of the national anthem and the using of the national flag by a country participating in international sports competitions, because such a ban is a violation of the state's right to identity. The bans imposed by foreign organizations and judicial institutions on the Russian Federation as sanctions are presented by the international community as a compromise for the admission of Russian athletes to participate in international sports competitions in a neutral status, however, from a legal point of view, this approach requires reconsideration. The authors proposed amendments to a number of regulatory legal acts of the Russian Federation: the Constitution of the Russian Federation, the Civil Code of the Russian Federation.