Recently published, law n. 3708/2008 sets provisions concerning, among others, the fighting of violence in sports events and the clamping down of doping. The new law introduces the innovation of abolishing the Fans’ Leagues and replacing them with the Friends’ Clubs. The Friends’ Club has no legal personality of its own, but is a service department of the athletes’ association (AA), the remunerated athletes’ department (RAD) or the sports S.A. (SSA) that creates it, to which the surveillance and the responsibility for the Club’s organization, administration and operation also belong. By the new law all kinds of legal and athletic bonds between the Clubs and the respective AA, RAD and SSA are disconnected. Furthermore, the law includes provisions regarding the Standing Committee for Fighting Violence and the newly established Interministerial Committee for Fighting Violence.
Concerning the doping issue, the law introduces supplementary provisions regarding the activities of the National Council Against Doping and the consequences in case an athlete is caught having received prohibited substances.
