The Paradox of Rights in Competitive Sports: Equality, Fairness and Legitimate Exclusion

Abstract This article examines the relationship between inclusion, fairness, and legitimacy in competitive sport, interpreting it as a normative system in which rules, values, and social conflicts are intertwined. From a sociological and legal perspective, it argues that sports rules are not merely technical instruments but mechanisms that define the boundaries of participation and the criteria of justice. The expansion of inclusive demands, driven by civil rights movements and increasing recognition of diversity, comes into tension with the principle of competitive fairness, which requires classification systems and selective criteria to ensure comparability of performance. This tension is interpreted through the lens of the “paradox of rights,” according to which the expansion of rights may generate new conflicts rather than resolve them. Through the analysis of contemporary controversies related to gender, disability, and the regulation of the body, the article shows how sport constitutes a privileged laboratory for observing the interplay between recognition of differences and distributive justice. It concludes that the conflict between inclusion and fairness is not contingent but structural, rooted in the very logic of competitive sport, and reflects broader transformations in contemporary democracies.