---
title: "Sports Contract Negotiation"
url: "https://legal.ge/en/service/media-entertainment-and-sports-law-en/sports-contract-negotiation-en"
field: "Media, Entertainment & Sports Law"
description: "Sports contract negotiations under the Civil Code: offer, acceptance, silence as consent and costs of broken-off talks. Legal.ge."
reviewed: "2026-07-09"
updated: "2026-10-14"
publisher: "legal.ge"
---

# Sports Contract Negotiation

> Source: legal.ge, https://legal.ge/en/service/media-entertainment-and-sports-law-en/sports-contract-negotiation-en

## Sports Contract Negotiations Under Georgian Law

The negotiations that fill a transfer window — between club and player, sponsor and athlete — proceed in Georgia under the general rules of the Civil Code: no separate procedure exists for concluding sports deals. Importantly, negotiation is not a legally neutral process: Article 317 states directly that an obligation may arise also on the basis of the preparation of a contract — culpable conduct at the negotiation stage already entails liability. Below we examine the legal framework of negotiations: freedom of contract, the rules of offer and acceptance, the significance of silence in business relations, and the interpretation of disputed clauses.

The full text is available on legal.ge after signing in: https://legal.ge/en/service/media-entertainment-and-sports-law-en/sports-contract-negotiation-en

### Can costs of failed negotiations be recovered?

Only where the contract was not concluded due to the other party's culpable conduct; merely walking away does not entitle reimbursement.

### Which proposal counts as an offer?

One addressed to specific persons and expressing readiness to perform upon acceptance; an announcement to an indefinite circle is only an invitation to offer.

### How is a disputed clause interpreted?

According to the understanding customary at the parties' place of residence; where these differ, the acceptant's place of residence is decisive.

### Can a contract be refused?

Freedom of contract is the rule, but a dominant party bears a duty to contract, and a consumer cannot be refused without justification.