Maros Kolpak

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Maros Kolpak a Slovak handball player. His legal actions in Germany set a precedent for professional sports in Europe, known as Kolpak ruling, which have had a wide-ranging effect, especially in regards to English county cricket and British professional rugby.

Kolpak was playing in the Germany, but was discharged from his club because of a quota for non-European Union players set in the league. In 2003 he presented his case against the Deutscher Handballbund (German Handball Federation) to the European Court of Justice, which ruled in his favour, thereby setting a precedent, now known as the Kolpak ruling.