The article is devoted to the analysis of the legal nature of relations arising in the course of sports competitions. It is noted that there exists a rather significant group of relations connected with the management of sport as a special activity, and such relations are only indirectly related to the competitions themselves, since they primarily reflect the process of communicating certain directives and, accordingly, reports on the progress of their implementation. It is observed that the "athlete — sports organization" relationship is much closer to the essence of competitions, i.e., to their competitive part. On the basis of the conducted research, it is concluded that within the complex of relations arising at sports competitions, one can distinguish core (system-forming) relations and other relations that are merely adjacent to them.