The Gipuzkoa Provincial Council will not continue the legal battle and has renounced appealing the unfavorable ruling known in February against its school sports model. Although the regional government itself had already shifted by introducing flexibilities for the current school year, today's published resolution definitively confirms the annulment of the geographical limits set in 2024 within the framework of Eskola Kirola, following the contentious-administrative appeal filed by Antiguoko Kirol Elkartea. The Council still had the option to appeal to the Supreme Court, but has not done so, and the sentence is now final.

The ruling by the TSJPV in February represented another judicial setback for the Council and the Gipuzkoan model of Eskola Kirola, which had already been revised and softened for the current school year, specifically by introducing greater geographical flexibility. This sentence and the decision not to appeal explain the reason for this change.

Therefore, sections 3, 4, 5, 6, and 7 of Order Foral 40-133/2021, modified in 2024, which obliged 'benjamín' and 'alevín' (underage) schoolchildren to participate in clubs within their municipality of residence or schooling, or failing that, the closest surrounding area, are now null and void.

Families regain the possibility of enrolling minors in clubs outside their municipality without needing to resort to specific exceptions or extraordinary authorizations, as was the case in the 2023-2024 school year.

The model of school sports in Gipuzkoa began to be dismantled in January 2025, when the TSJPV struck down the obligation to participate in the Eskola Kirola mult-sport program as a prerequisite for registering in a sports club for major sports such as football, basketball, handball, or rugby.

On this occasion, the court went a step further, considering that the provincial institution did not adequately justify that the territorial limitations truly protected the “best interests of the minor,” despite this being the main argument used for the change.

The annulled regulation had been approved in May 2024 with the stated objective of curbing the early recruitment of minors by clubs distant from their “natural environment,” particularly in football.

The system obliged schoolchildren in the 'benjamín' and 'alevín' categories to play primarily in entities within their municipality or the immediate surroundings. The Council argued that the model aimed to prevent travel, protect the educational purposes of school sports, and reduce early specialization dynamics.

However, the sentence questioned this reasoning and considered that it was not sufficiently proven that playing outside the municipality causes real harm to minors.

In fact, the resolution stated that the administration decided to apply “what it considers best for the majority of children,” thereby sacrificing the particular interests of other minors and their families. It also questioned whether the Administration can generally substitute the family's decision-making capacity in an area like sports practice.