LEGAL AWARENESS OF RIGHTS IN PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALL CONTRACTS: AN APPLIED STUDY ON JORDANIAN PLAYERS

This research aims to assess the level of legal consciousness of Jordanian professional football players who have played in their official football leagues about their rights and liabilities linked with a professional contract. This research is driven by major categories such as knowledge on rights from the contract, knowledge on contract termination and dispute resolution, awareness of legal counsel and contractual fairness perception. A special c questionnaire with four domains and fifteen items was formulated using the related literature and validated by experts. In total, 120 players were surveyed and statistical analyses such as descriptive statistics, One-Way ANOVA and independent samples t-tests were employed to determine the differences in legal awareness according to years of professional experience and previous professional experience abroad. Results show that there is a low level of awareness of the law in general terms, although more experienced players and those who have competed professionally outside Jordan are significantly higher. These findings emphasize the importance of legal education and institutional support for improving players’ knowledge about contractual rights and protective mechanisms. The paper suggests some practical strategies for players, clubs and governing bodies to increase legal literacy and protect the interests of the players.