BIOETHICAL CONSTITUTIONALISM AND THE PROTECTION OF ATHLETE DIGNITY: BIOMEDICINE, CORPOREALITY, AND NEW RIGHTS IN SPORT

Abstract

Aim: this paper aims to justify a bioconstitutional concept of athlete dignity protection under the growing medicalization of sport and to develop a system of new biomedical rights for regulatory adoption in sports legislation, anti-doping rules, and sports federation regulations. Materials and methods. This paper employs a mixed-method approach, including formal-legal, comparative-legal, system-structural, and bioethical analysis methods. Results. The paper examines the concept of bioethical constitutionalism and its distinction from bioconstitutionalism in sport. This study reveals the constitutional categories of dignity, vulnerability, bodily integrity, and bioethical well-being of the athlete. It presents a critical analysis of sports legislation in the Russian Federation, the anti-doping rules of the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), and medical protocols with respect to compliance with the biomedical rights of athletes. A set of new athlete rights is proposed: the right to informed consent and refusal of procedures, the right to bodily and mental inviolability during anti-doping control, and the right to the protection of genetic and biometric data. A mechanism for bioethical and bioconstitutional audits of current regulatory acts and sports federation regulations is proposed. Conclusion. The principles of proportionality for athlete rights limitations were formulated, along with recommendations for incorporating bioethical and bioconstitutional standards into educational programs for coaches, sports physicians, and sports lawyers. This paper is addressed to specialists in sports medicine, sports law, bioethics, and sports management.