A contract with a minor athlete is in Georgia first of all a question of legal capacity: before a club and a young player agree on terms, it must be established whether the player can conclude the agreement at all and whose consent is needed. These rules are set by the Civil Code, and ignoring them puts the contract at risk. On this page we explain when a player acquires full capacity, in which cases the consent of a legal representative is required, and what a club answers for the acts of its representatives.
Full Capacity — When the Player Signs Alone
Under Article 12 of the Civil Code, capacity — the ability of a natural person, by his or her own will and action, to acquire and exercise civil rights and duties in full — arises upon attaining majority. A person who has reached the age of eighteen is of age; this is the threshold after which an athlete concludes the contract with a club independently. The law provides one exception: a person who married before the age of eighteen is considered capable — such a young player enjoys full capacity. The same article introduces the category of a recipient of support: a person with psychosocial needs who satisfies the age or marriage conditions may, in a sphere determined by the court, be recognized as a recipient of support; the court may recognize even a minor as such within the limits where he or she does not need the consent of a legal representative. Age is therefore not the only criterion — before signing, a club may take into account whether there is a court decision on support concerning the player.
Restricting Capacity by Deal — Impermissible
Article 13 of the Code sets a rule of great practical importance: the restriction of capacity is allowed only in cases provided by law, and the restriction of capacity by a transaction is impermissible. In the sports context this means that a club cannot write into a contract a clause restricting the young player's capacity — for example, a blanket ban on concluding deals independently at an age when the law grants that right. Such a clause cannot operate even where the parties "agreed" to it: the only possible ground of restriction is the law itself. The logic is simple: capacity is a status of the person, not an object of negotiation.