CJEU Advocate General finds publishing anti-doping law violations must align with GDPR

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) Advocate General (AG) Dean Spielmann has issued a non-binding Opinion in Case C-474/24 that the systematic online publication of the names of professional athletes who have infringed anti-doping rules is contrary to EU law. The opinion follows a challenge by four athletes against an Austrian law requiring the Austrian anti-doping bodies to publish their names, sport, exclusion duration, and reasons for the sanction.

While the publication aims to deter doping and prevent circumvention of rules, the AG has serious doubts about the necessity and proportionality of the measure under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). Instead, he suggests that achieving the objectives through pseudonymised online publication, with the full names restricted to relevant bodies and sports federations, would be less prejudicial to data protection. 

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