Athletes are not just sports people; they are certainly among the most prominent figures of their present time, playing an important role in shaping opinions with their power to inspire. For this very reason, athletes’ freedom of expression is strongly limited by the sport authorities in light of the fundamental principle of sport neutrality. This study analyses and questions the traditional constraints to athletes’ free speech by taking into consideration the role of human rights in sports legal order and in sporting affairs. By assuming an emerging relativization of sport political neutrality, the essay investigates the case-law concerning athletes’ freedom of expression identifying limits and perspectives of the current evolutions on athletes’ public statements, establishing to what extent a reform of the present sporting regulation on freedom of expression is needed.

中文翻译：

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运动员的表达自由：体育运动的相对政治中立性

运动员不仅仅是体育人；他们无疑是当代最杰出的人物之一，在塑造观点方面发挥着重要作用，他们具有激发灵感的力量。正因为如此，运动员的言论自由受到体育当局根据体育中立的基本原则的强烈限制。本研究通过考虑人权在体育法律秩序和体育事务中的作用，分析和质疑运动员言论自由的传统限制。通过假设体育政治中立的新兴相对化，本文研究了有关运动员言论自由的判例法，确定了运动员公开声明当前演变的限制和观点，