92 ARTICLE LIMITS OF STATE INTERVENTION AND NON-INTERVENTION IN THE SPORTS FIELD By Igor Ponkin, Alena Ponkina Authors Igor Ponkin Doctor of science (Law), Russian Presidential Academy of Public Administration, 2004 Professor, Kutafi n Moscow State Law University E-mail: i@lenta.ru Alena Ponkina PhD (Law), Russian Presidential Academy of National Economy and Public Administration, 2013 Lecturer of Sports Law, Kutafi n Moscow State Law University E-mail: juriste.ap@gmail.com Abstract The present article analyses the limits of state intervention and nonintervention in the sports fi eld. <...> The authors underscore the conditions that legally and practically defi ne a need for state involvement in sports management. <...> They also describe the principle of sports autonomy. <...> The principle of sports autonomy refl ects independence from public authorities (including both federal and local, or municipal, authorities). <...> This principle is one of the most basic principles in professional sports. <...> This principle enables the systematization and delimitation of the relations between individuals, society, and government in the sports fi eld, while preventing or reducing any imbalance in such relations. <...> Thus, the key feature of interrelation between public administration and self-administration in the sports fi eld is the limitation (restriction) of public administration. <...> The principle of sports autonomy should also encompass the existence of autonomous extra-legal regulation in the sports fi eld. <...> In modern professional sports, the development www.kulawr.ru Volume 1 September 2014 Issue 1 KUTAFIN UNIVERSITY LAW REVIEW Igor Ponkin, Alena Ponkina Limits of State Intervention and Non-Intervention in the Sports Field 93 of sustainable public relations that function in line with public interests cannot be accomplished without public administration, including administrative, criminal, and civil law regulation in the sports fi eld. <...> Keywords Sports law, lex sportiva, sport, public administration in the sports fi eld, state, limits of state competence, state intervention and nonintervention in the sports fi eld Introduction Sport needs support from both society and state. <...> The main objectives of the State Policy in this fi eld should be: development of an organizational basis for sports, improvement of interaction between different entities in the aforementioned fi eld, and improvement of the sports management system at every level <...>