sport and the law

• Spectators at sports events


  Must act within the law
• It is now illegal to trespass onto the field of play and chant in a racist manner towards players and opposition fans
• Clubs


  Have a responsibility to ensure the health and safety of all spectators
• Measures introduced to ensure safety and overcome hooliganism at sports events


  • Removal of perimeter fences and terraces; all seater stadia to replace the terraces
  • Control of alcohol sales on the way to grounds as well as in the ground
  • Specified kick-off times imposed by police
  • Increased security and police presence, intelligence gathering, improved police liaison between forces across the country and indeed the world
  • Tougher deterrents e.g., banning orders, fine and imprisonment for offenders
• The various pieces of legislation that have emerged over the years to try to control fan behaviour at sporting events and improve safety can be considered as a timeline of 'crowd safety legislation'
• Occupiers Liability Act 1975

  Fundamental law governing spectator safety at sporting events. States that an 'occupier' of a premises owes a common duty of care to its 'visitors'
• Safety of Sports Grounds Act 1975


  Protects all spectators and covers all grounds in all sports
• Sporting Events (Control of Alcohol etc) Act 1985


  Bans possession of alcohol at a football match or on a journey to a match. Empowers magistrates to impose conditions on licensed premises within sports grounds to ensure no alcohol can be sold by them during a match
• Fire Safety and Safety of Places Sports Act 1987


  Requires that a fire security certificate/license is gained from the local authority for an event to happen. Sets the maximum number of spectators who will safely be allowed into a stand, and states that stands have to be made from fire-proof materials
• Football Spectators Act 1989

  Allows banning orders to be put on individuals who have committed offences. Prevents them from attending sports events for a certain period of time at home and abroad
• Football Offences Act 1991


  Created 3 offences at football grounds to prevent the throwing of missiles, the chanting of racist remarks and trespassing onto the field of play
• Supporter offences


  • Running onto the pitch and attacking players
  • Throwing missiles
  • Chanting racist remarks
• Supporters face legal consequences for their unacceptable behaviour
• Duty of care (for sports coaches)


  Legal obligation to take 'reasonable' measures to eliminate all the potential dangers and risks so that players can compete in a safe environment
• Example of failing duty of care


  • Allowing an indoor basketball session to take place on a wet sports hall floor, where a child then slipped and hurt themselves
• Coaches' legal responsibilities


  • Awareness of legal responsibilities, especially with respect to the advice they give sports performers and the way they manage and supervise participation in sport
• Coaches' legal responsibilities to athletes

  • Health and safety
  • Protection from abuse
  • Supplements
  • Duty of care
• Health and safety responsibility

  Coaches are responsible for the health and safety of the performers and athletes in their care, including access to first aid and emergency services
• Protection from abuse responsibility


  Coaches have a responsibility to protect children from all forms of abuse, including emotional and physical, and should adhere to organisational policies
• Supplements responsibility


  Coaches have a legal and ethical responsibility to educate their athletes about drug use and abuse and to provide advice on legal nutrition and supplements
• Duty of care responsibility

  Sports organisations and individuals have a duty of care, especially when coaching young children, to ensure participant welfare and safety
• Demonstrating reasonable standard of care (legally)

  1. Keeping up to date contact/medical details and attendance registers

  2. Maintaining appropriate supervision ratios

  3. Ensuring first aid provisions is available

  4. Ensuring individuals have current DBS clearance

  5. Ensuring appropriate risk assessment
• Duty of care (morally)

  Coaches have a moral responsibility for the safety and welfare of those under their control, acting 'in loco parentis' as a reasonable parent would
• Negligence


  Conduct that falls below a reasonable person standard and leads to a breach of duty of care, which results in foreseeable harm to another
• Duty of care


  A legal obligation to ensure the safety or well being of others
• Negligence is when someone (e.g., an official) fails to take reasonable care for another person to avoid any dangers that could cause them harm
• Officials have a duty of care towards participants to make sure that all dangers around them are eliminated so that they can take part in a safe environment
• If they fail to do 'everything possible' to keep participants safe, they may be seen as negligent. E.g., allowing a match to be played on a dangerous surface that has not been checker prior to the match setting
• Negligence cases are brought against officials at both professional and amateur levels of sport
• Negligence cases in rugby

  • Smoldon v Whitworth and Nolan
  • Alport v Wilbraham
• In the case of Smoldon v Whitworth and Nolan, a referee was found liable for serious injuries sustained by the claimant following a scrum collapsing. It was found that the official was at fault because he allowed a number of scrums to collapse during the course of the fractious match he was refereeing. The ref was found to have failed in following Rugby Football Board guidelines in relation to collapsed scrums; he had allowed 2 packs to come into the scrum too hard, leading to a scrum collapse on more than 20 occasions
• In the case of Alport v Wilbraham, a claim against a rugby referee failed. Allport, the claimant, was left paralysed from the neck down following a scrum collapse. He argued the referee had failed to ensure that the scrum has been adequately controlled. In this case the court preferred the evidence of the defendant (Wilbraham) and dismissed the claimants claim for compensation
• These cases illustrate that it is likely there will continue to be litigation against referees and officials in many sports. They need to do everything in their power to ensure they are not negligent in the performance of their duties
• Sports law


  The laws, regulations and judicial decisions that govern sports and athletes who perform in them
• Damages


  Individuals seeking legal redress and compensation for loss of earnings must prove that they have suffered an actual injury as the result of the deliberate harmful, reckless actions of an opponent
• Bosman ruling


  A ruling by the European court of justice which gave a professional football player the right to a free transfer at the end of their contract
• Restraint of trade


  Action that interferes with free competition in a market. In sport, this might involve a clause in a contract which restricts a persons right to carry out their profession
• Sports law includes the laws, regulations and judicial decisions that govern sports and athletes who perform in them
• Lots of injuries occur to performers while playing sport and more often than not they are seen as an expected side effect of participating in sport
• Sometimes injuries occur that are not considered part of sporting contest and involve deliberate acts by a participant to injure another. In certain instances these are illegal