no. 07-00-682/2019-02 date: 12. 2. 2021.

OPINION

The opinion was issued in the procedure regarding the complaint submitted by the lawyer AA from Niš, on behalf and with the consent of the Sports association “…” from Niš, against the Sports club “…” from Niš, due to discrimination based on personal characteristics – membership in sports organization. The complaint states, among other things, that on July 17, and August 29, 2019, the Sports association “…” sent by e-mail applications of its members to the Sports club “…” for the races that this Sports club announced for July 19, and September 1, 2019, as well as that the Sports club “…” rejected the application of members of the Sports association “…” on the grounds that “the number of competitors, which is limited, has been filled”. In the statement of the Sports club “…” it is stated that the Sports association “…” submitted applications electronically for the races announced for July 19, and September 1, 2019, and that the applications were rejected because they were submitted after the limited number of competitors was filled. It is further stated that the Sports association “…” was offered that the application for July 19, 2019 be automatically accepted as application for the next race; that the financial means for organizing the races obtained from the city of Niš for the realization of the sports program called “…” were in the amount three times less than required, which is why they decided to limit the number of participants in the races and keep the number of races the same, thus achieving the set goal of the realization of the program, and that is the popularization of roller sport. They also submitted lists of participants in both races and photos from the race held in June 2019, in which members of the Sports association “…” participated. During the procedure, it was determined that the members of the complainant participated in a sports event organized by the Sports club “…” in June 2019, and that on July 18, 2019, they were offered that the application from that day be accepted as application for the next race. Based on the established facts, the Commissioner concluded that the non-participation of members of the Sports association “…” in the races announced for July 19, and September 1, 2019, organized by the Sports club “…” was not caused by personal characteristics of members of the Association (membership in the organization). Due to all the above, the Commissioner gave the opinion that the Sports club “…” from Niš in this particular case did not violate the provisions of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination. However, the analysis also showed that certain actions during the organization of the competition from the project “…” were not transparent enough in the interest of the development of this sport in the city of Niš and its popularization. Namely, invitations to participate in the races were published in an extremely short period of time before the races themselves (a few days before the races on the Club’s Facebook page and in the media). Having in mind the goals of the project financed by the city of Niš in the desire to popularize and encourage children to play sports, as well as promote a healthier lifestyle, the Commissioner used their legal authority from Article 33, item 9 of the Law on Prohibition of Discrimination, and recommended to the Sports club “…” from Niš measures for achieving equality, namely to inform, in the future, the Sports Association of Niš about the date and place of the planned competitions, within a reasonable time before holding a competition, when organizing sports events aimed at popularizing sports in the city of Niš, and greater participation of children, which are funded by the local government for the development of sports in the city, so that the Association could inform all clubs about it in a timely manner. The Commissioner had in view the fact that the Sports Association of Niš is an organization that gathers clubs from the territory of the city of Niš, and that in the future situations like this could be avoided by sending notifications to the Association about similar events funded by the City of Niš, so that the Association could inform all members in a timely manner.

COMMISSIONER FOR THE PROTECTION OF EQUALITY

Brankica Janković