Why it is important for the Law to regulate Sports

On a very basic level, sports law tends to be divided into two key areas – regulatory issues and
commercial and financial disputes. Regulatory issues are focused on the rules of the sport and the
breaches that can occur. A good example of this is when an athlete has tested positive for a banned
substance or a club appealing a red card decision. The other side of sports law has more to do with the
commercial nature of sport. Athlete and player contracts are a typical example but sports law is heavily
involved in stadium development, financial administration issues, sponsorship deals and broadcasting
rights.

Of course, there are elements that don’t fit neatly into either category. Negligence in high contact sports
is an area that has become more prominent in recent times and problems with spectators in regard to
racial chanting has blurred the lines between regulatory issues and criminal law. The emergence of
Twitter and other social media platforms as a tool for athletes to interact in the public sphere means
sports solicitors or barristers today need to be aware of the possible consequences of a tweet. A number
of sportsmen and women have found themselves in trouble with their respective governing bodies for
publishing ill-advised tweets.

Sports law is a vital part to sports. There needs to be a strong presence of good governance and
someone to keep the rules of the game in place when disputes arise. The popularity of sport and the
large amount at stake (last season’s Champions League winner’s Liverpool won €19,000,000 – enough
to go a long way even in today’s football setting) mean that a breach of rules can have devastating
effects. Governing bodies are also supposed to ensure and maintain the integrity of their sport. In recent
years, cycling’s reputation has been severely damaged by not only allegations of doping but widespread
use of performance enhancing drugs. While Lance Armstrong’s use of banned substances is certainly the
most well-known, his use is certainly the tip of the iceberg when it comes to doping in cycling. If the
cycling governing body (the UCI) want to stand any chance in improving the reputation of their sport, a
legal presence is absolutely vital in aiding them in refining rules and procedure to alleviate doping in the
sport.

As mentioned earlier, the solicitors need to be aware of the use of social media in sport. We’ve seen a
countless number of highly publicised tweets that have resulted in disciplinary action from governing
bodies. While playing on loan at Q.P.R. in 2012 Federico Macheda was fined £15,000 for a homophobic
tweet he sent, while Emmanuel Frimpong was fined £6,000 for his anti-Semitic abuse on Twitter to a
Tottenham Hotspur fan. Social media is still yet to develop, the social platforms have been in our lives
for only a few years and as more and more athletes sign up, the possibility of further disciplinary (and
therefore the need for possible mediation) and appeals are inevitable. This prosper part of sector should
not be overlooked as one careless tweet can have serious consequences. Former's Chelsea and Swansea
player Leon Knight case is a pertinent example, whose homophobic tweets led to his contract with
Northern Irish team Glentoran being terminated. Glentoran used a clause within Knight’s contract after
placing the player on suspension. Knight’s actions are a prime example of the consequences which
absent-minded tweets can have – particularly in the heat of the moment.
At the same time, a lot of work sports solicitors do involves disputes over contracts and, predominantly
in the case of football and rugby, employment issues. Michael Laudrup for example has sought
professional legal advice over his dismissal from Swansea City. He has strongly criticised the manner of
his sacking by Swansea City. The Dane claimed that he had been offered no explanation for his dismissal
in his termination letter. Sports like football still require a need for ‘traditional’ legal advice, advice with
a certain expertise. One particularly famous case from employment law is Walker v Crystal Palace F.C.
[1910] which shows how much of a role sport plays in our legal system. This famous case has established
the control test - "A servant(employee) is a person subject to his master(employer) as to the manner in
which he shall do his work". Walker was employed as a professional footballer with the defendant club
and it has become important whether Walker would be categorised under contract of service or
contract for service. The court held that he was employed under contract of employment because the
club has a control in form of training, discipline and methods of play. We tend to forget that athletes,
managers and backroom staff are still subject to the same rules and laws as everyone else is.

A considerable amount of sports law is contracts. While in some cases it can be player contracts
(Usually, these tend to have a pretty standard set of terms), it mainly goes around contracts for
stadiums, broadcasting rights and sponsorship deals. For certain sports, broadcasting rights are of a
huge importance as the major amount of income comes from television. BT recently won the rights to
screen every single Champions League and Europa League game for 3 seasons starting in 2019. They
paid an astonishing £897 million for the deal, the huge amount of drafting and legal issues that had to
be solved is beyond any doubt. Stadium issues can also take up a large part of sports law. Contracting for
the development of a stadium is of course difficult enough but many problems arise after the
development. For instance the Olympic Stadium in London, vast amounts of legal disputes took place
over the future of the stadium (although West Ham United were eventually granted residency in 2013).
Some might argue that it is not too important whether such legal issues come under the realm of a
sports lawyer or not. However, the technical and specialised nature of sport means it’s considerably
different to contracting for the tenancy of an office or a house for example.

To sum up everything that has been stated above, sports law is a very wide subject and constantly
crosses over into other areas of the law. As seen through the lens of the law, the need to regulate the
sports cannot be argued as sports play a staggering part in our society and most of people's lives. It is
crucial for the law to dedicate a separate area to this subject since it has played such an important role
for such a long time now.