스포츠 선수의 계약만료 후 이적에 관한 법적 문제

Legal Issues of Sports Player Transfer upon Player Contract’s Expiration - Focused on Compensation for Free Agent’s Transfer -

스포츠 리그에서 선수는 구단과의 선수계약기간이 만료된 후에도 다른 구단으로의 이적이 제한되는데 이는 보류제도에 의해 전소속구단에게 독점적 계약교섭권 내지 계약갱신권이 인정되기 때문이다. 현재는 리그의 규정에 따라 일정한 요건을 달성한 선수에 대하여는 다른 구단으로의 이적을 허용하는 자유계약선수제도가 도입되면서 이러한 보류제도에 의한 이적 제한은 일부 완화되었지만, 제한적 자유계약선수의 경우에는 그 선수를 영입하는 구단이 전소속구단에게 일정한 보상을 하도록 하는 보상제도가 시행되기 때문에 여전히 대부분의 선수는 계약이 만료된 후에도 이적이 제한되고 있다. 특히 제한적 자유계약선수의 이적에 대하여 선수지명권으로 보상하는 미국 스포츠 리그의 경우와는 달리 우리나라 스포츠 리그에서는 선수의 전소속구단에게 선수의 지난 시즌 보수를 기준으로 계산된 일정 금액과 보상선수의 이적으로 보상하도록 하고 있는데, 이는 선수들의 권리를 과도하게 침해하는 것으로 시급히 개선될 필요가 있다.

In Sports Leagues, club employs the player as a skilled sports player to make a team and participate in the competition held by league, subject to the terms and conditions of ‘Standard Player Contract’. and SPC includes reserve clause, free agent clause, salary cap clause, and trade clause, which are the characteristics of sports player contract. The reserve clause has been adopted until 1970’s, which have played the role of maintaining ‘the competition balance of clubs’ and ‘the restriction of players’ salary’ properly which are necessary to manage sports leagues. And upon the contract’s expiration, the rights to the player are to be retained by the club to which he has been signed under the reserve system, therefore the player is not free to enter into another contract with another club. While once common in sports, the reserve clause was abolished in Major League Baseball(MLB) in 1975, and free agency was adopted. now in many sports leagues including Korea Baseball Organization(KBO), the reserve clause has, for the most part, been replaced by free agency. Free agent is player whose contract with team has expired and who is eligible to sign with another club. There are two kinds of free agents, the unrestricted free agent and the restricted free agent. Unrestricted free agents have been released from their club, or had the term of their contract expire without a renewal. These players, generally speaking, are free to entertain offers from all other clubs and to decide with whom to sign a new contract. Restricted free agents can sign other clubs upon their contracts’ expiration. But their new clubs have to provide some number of draft selections to the former clubs as compensation for losing the players in U.S. sports leagues. And in KBO, as compensation for the restricted free agent’s transfer, the new club has to give his former club the money which is 300% of the players’ former season salaries to his former club, and has to transfer a player whom the former club designates. This rule about compensation for restricted free agent’s transfer has been made by KBO without asking for players’ consent. It could infringe the right of restricted free agent’s transfer more than necessary, so it needs to be revised like the compensation rule of U.S. sports leagues.