Physicians who practice in the field of competitive sports have particular ethical difficulties, many of which revolve around conflicts of interest. While providing care for the individual athlete, team-employed doctors have a duty to operate in the club's best interests. In order to decide if an athlete can compete safely, they must weigh factors including safeguarding versus disclosing health information, as well as autonomous informed consent against paternalistic decision-making. Additionally, the physician must deal with an athlete's decisions regarding performance improvement and return to play, which may not be in the athlete's long-term best interests but may benefit the athlete and team in the near term. The lack of evidence-based standards in a field where the allure of financial advantages for all parties engaged makes these challenging duties much more onerous
