Can Ronaldo sue FIFA for discrimination?

Ronaldo Luiz Nazario de Lima, simply known to millions as Ronaldo and undoubtedly one of footballs greatest players retired from football earlier this week at the age of 34.

One of the main reasons that Ronaldo gave for his retirement was that he has been unable to manage his injury problems in recent years. One major factor in the number of injuries that he picked up was his weight gain, something which has on occasions been raised as a reason for underperformance.

Ronaldo was diagnosed with hypothyroidism approximately 4 years ago in 2007 and, as Ronaldo himself reported “To control it, I was told I would have to take some hormones that are not permitted in football because of antidoping”.

One of the treatments that are given to people suffering with hypothyroidism is Human Growth Hormone (HGH) which are generally considered as a banned substance in most professional sports. The question however is if a person requires treatment by way of drugs, is it right that they can be prevented from following a treatment path that is better for their health just because of the rules and regulations of an organisation or an employer.

In the UK there is some protection for employees with disabilities thanks initially to the
Disability Discrimination Act and now the Equality Act. However, for a mental or physical impairment to be consider as a disability you have to have been suffering it for a period of at least 12 months, are likely to continue suffering from it for at least a further 12 months and it must have an adverse effect on your day to activities such as mobility or concentration. If you do have a disability then you are at least protected from being treated less favourably than those who do not have a disability.

So is hypothyroidism a disability? If left untreated it can cause the sufferer to enter a coma and can cause death but that aside sufferers are also at a greater risk of having high cholesterol, heart disease and emotional depression, something which on its own can be a disability.

According to FIFA a footballer can apply for a therapeutic use exemption (TUE) although by applying there is no guarantee that a person requiring the treatment will get it. The FIFA website, which has not been updated since 3rd May 2007, states that “The granting body for this application differs according to your status as a player, be it domestic national or international.” By that can it be interpreted then that exemptions are not based on the need but the status of the player involved?

In reality there is an argument that had Ronaldo been playing in the UK and not been selected for a team on the basis that his weight and proneness to injury affected his performance, that he could have taken action against his employers on the grounds of discrimination. If a professional sportsperson were to lodge Employment Tribunal proceedings for discrimination against their employers, effectively their club, then it would be time for sports governing bodies and their policies to be challenged for being discriminatory.