Ekasakti Journal of law and Justice
Vol. 4 No. 2 (2026)

Legal Protection Problems For Futsal Athletes In Wage Aspects: Norm Conflict Between National Labor Law and the Lex Sportiva Principle

Rudi Hartono (Universitas Indonesia)



Article Info

Publish Date
08 Sep 2026

Abstract

The industrialization of futsal in Indonesia has given rise to an employment ecosystem that normatively should be governed by national labor law, yet in practice remains subject to the dominance of the lex sportiva principle embodied by FIFA and PSSI. This study examines legal protection issues for professional futsal athletes receiving wages below the minimum wage standard in the 2023/2024 Liga Futsal Profesional (LFP), analyzed through the lens of norm conflict between mandatory labor law provisions and international sports law autonomy. Employing a juridical-normative research method with statutory and conceptual approaches, this study identifies three layers of problems: (1) the employment relationship between futsal athletes and clubs that genuinely satisfies the qualifications under Article 1(15) of Law No. 13 of 2003; (2) the jurisdictional dualism arising from the tension between Article 102 of Law No. 11 of 2022 on Sports and the labor dispute resolution mechanism; and (3) the ineffectiveness of the National Dispute Resolution Chamber (NDRC) as an alternative forum for wage dispute resolution. The research findings indicate that the regulatory void regarding special minimum wage standards for professional athletes creates a condition of structural vulnerability that systematically sacrifices athletes' fundamental rights. The proposed solution rests on a graduated enforcement model that accommodates lex sportiva mechanisms while guaranteeing the non-derogability of athletes' normative rights as workers.

Copyrights © 2026






Journal Info

Abbrev

law

Publisher

Subject

Law, Crime, Criminology & Criminal Justice

Description

Ekasakti Journal of law and Justice is an peer-reviewed journal. This journal is managed by the Master of Law Program, Universitas Ekasakti. The purpose of EJLJ is as a medium of communication, information and legal science development. This journal contains studies in the field of law which are the ...