Total permanent invalidity of a 30 years old professional footballer as an accident at work consequence

Abstract

Can a professional footballer who has already reached the age of thirty years be declared total permanent invalidity for his usual profession as a result of an accident at work?

The Suprem Court judgement of 20 December 2016 (rec. 535/2015), correcting the criterion of the lower Tribunal, has given "an adjusted" affirmative response to this question.

In essence, the key to the argument of the Supreme Court is the absence of any rule that prevents access to invalidity in any degree to professional athletes from a certain age; and, above all, the absence of a legal basis justifying that the end of his sports career is, per se, directly linked to that specific age.