ABSTRACT

The professional sports sector is not only composed of sportsman and sport clubs but also sports federations, spectators, fans, the media and broadcasters are of crucial to the sector. Trade Unionism in professional sports sector in Turkey is extremely weak and as a sector, it is thought that organizing is unnecessary or inadequate especially for improving the working conditions of the sportsman in the lower leagues. Turkey has no serious, participatory and large organisation in this sector, although unions have acted to improve sportsmen’ working conditions and rights throughout the world and professional sportsmen have gained significant rights through unionisation in many European countries and the United States. The absence of unionisation in Turkey might result from sportsmen’ low level of union consciousness and the belief that they do not need unions. This study aims to identify the place and importance of organisation/unionisation in the professional football sector, to raise union consciousness, to determine the roles that unions can play in improving working conditions and to suggest actions to establish and strengthen unions. For this purpose, a questionnaire to the players who played in leagues on professional football sector was conduct and the results were tried to be evaluated in accordance with stated aims