BASL Vol 13 Issue 3
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VOLUME 13 VOLUME 13 · ISSUE 3 · 2006 sport and the law journal ISSUE 3 VOLUME 13 SPORT AND THE LAW JOURNAL Editor British Association for Sport and Law Limited Simon Gardiner c/o The School of Law, King’s College London Strand, London WC2R 2LS Editorial Board Telephone: 020 7848 2434, Fax: 020 7848 2575 Dr Hazel Hartley Murrey Rosen QC www.britishsportslaw.org Dr Richard Parrish Jonathan Taylor Martin Matthews Registered Office c/o Pridie Brewster, 1st Floor, 29-39 London Road Directors Twickenham, Middlesex TW1 3SZ Maurice Watkins: President Telephone: 020 8892 3100, Fax: 020 8892 7604 Murray Rosen QC: Chairman Mel Goldberg: Deputy Chairman Registered in England. Company No. 4947540. Gerry Boon: Hon. Treasurer Registered Office: 29-39 London Road, Twickenham, Serena Hedley-Dent: Hon. Secretary Middlesex TW1 3SZ. VAT Reg No. 673 5989 73 Darren Bailey Nick Bitel ISSN 1353-0127 Stephen Boyd Nic Coward Sara Friend Graphic design and layout Edward Grayson www.finalfilm.co.uk Paul Harris Jane Mulcahy Walter Nichols Fraser Reid Sam Rush Kuldip Singh QC Jonathan Taylor VOLUME 13 · ISSUE 3 · 2006 Contents Editorial 2 Survey and Reports Sports Law International Survey 45 Walter Cairns Opinion and Practice Sport and the Law Journal Reports 103 The footballer’s divorce – A game 6 of two halves Kevin Harris-James and David Burles Reviews Deloitte Annual Review of 15 Football Finance 2005 Book Reviews 111 Neville Cox & Alex Schuster (with Cathryn Costello), (2004) Sport and the Law Jack Anderson Conference Special Conference summary 27 Players behaving badly – Legal issues 28 highlighted by the Mutu case Jonathan Taylor International exploitation of sports 36 rights – Transnational legal issues arising in ocean racing Robert Datnow 1 ISSUE 3 VOLUME 13 SPORT AND THE LAW JOURNAL Editorial By Simon Gardiner, Editor This is second issue of the Journal produced in electronic form. You will find the now established format of a number of different sections. The Opinion and Practice Section has two fairly lengthy articles. Firstly, there is a focus on the legal issues and financial implications when elite sports athletes divorce by Kevin Harris-James and David Burles. Secondly, there are extracts from the 2005 Deloitte Annual Review of Football Finances which provides the latest snap-shot of the health of the British national game. The Analysis Section provides a specific focus on the Part IV of the Broadcasting Act 1996, gives the Secretary Annual Conference of BASL held at Lord’s cricket of State for Culture, Media and Sport the power to ground in November 2005. There were three main maintain a list of sporting and other events of national themes of the day: Athletes Behaving Badly’ has a interest divided into two categories: Group A and Group focus on issues arising over how clubs should deal with B. The listing of an event does not mean that it must players banned for doping offences and also how automatically be shown on television. Listing merely potential criminal liability should be constructed for on- ensures that rights to these events, if they are offered at field acts of violence; ‘Commercial Developments in all, must be offered to the main free-to-air terrestrial Sport: Legal Issues Arising; with a particular focus on broadcasters on “fair and reasonable terms”. Group A the recent tribulations of the British Horse Racing events must be shown either fully live on free to air Board; and ‘International Exploitation of Sports Rights’ terrestrial television channels which at least 95% of with a focus on Legal Issues in Ocean Racing and the viewers can receive (the BBC, ITV or C4) or in highlights regulation of ticketing for Major Sports Events. A short form by one of those broadcasters. report and a two of the papers are published. Jonathan Taylor discusses the legal issues arising in the Mutu The Category A list of events which must be screened case. Robert Datnow focuses on the Transnational live by one of those three broadcasters includes: the Legal Issues Arising in Ocean Racing. Olympic Games; the FIFA World Cup Finals Tournament; the FA Cup Final; the Scottish FA Cup Final The Key note presentation was given by David Morgan, (in Scotland); the Grand National; the Derby; the Chief Executive of the England and Wales Cricket Board. Wimbledon Tennis Finals; the European Football One matter he touched upon was the selling of exclusive Championship Finals Tournament; the Rugby League live rights for home Test Matches to BSkyB. The new Challenge Cup Final; and the Rugby World Cup Final. contract, which runs for four seasons from 2006 to 2009, is worth £220m, but means live international cricket The Category B list of events that those broadcasters including home Test Matches and all domestic cricket will must be allowed to show highlights of include: Test not be available live on terrestrial free to air TV for at least cricket matches played in England; Non-finals play in the four years. This has led to calls for a review of the Wimbledon Tournament. All other matches in the Rugby current UK system of ‘Listed Events’ that are protected World Cup finals tournament; Six Nations Rugby to be only shown live on free-to-air television. The Listed Tournament matches involving home countries; the Events system is empowered by the European Union’s Commonwealth Games; the World Athletics ‘Television without Frontiers Directive’, with each Championship; the Cricket World Cup - the final, semi- Member State able to determine which sporting events finals, and matches involving home nations’ teams; the are culturally significant to that country and therefore Ryder Cup; and the Open Golf Championship. subject to protection. There are those in the sports industry who see these provisions a restrictive practice As far as cricket was concerned, in 1998, the that is untenable in the market place. In the UK, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), Independent Television Commission (ITC) is the body that following strong lobbying from the ECB for cricket to be ensures that the listed events procedure works. The removed from the listed events, instructed an advisory Communications Act 2003, section 299, which modified group, chaired by Lord Gordon of Strathblane, to look at 2 SPORT AND THE LAW JOURNAL VOLUME 13 ISSUE 3 Editorial the issues surrounding listed events and to make country regardless of a fan’s ability to pay. The recommendations to the Secretary of State. According Committee stated that the granting of the highlights to the criteria used by the Lord Gordon review a listed package to Five, although it does not reach the 95% event is one which is generally felt to have special coverage threshold and not one of the generally available national resonance. It should contain an element which channels pursuant to the Television Broadcasting “serves to unite the nation”, be “a shared point on the Regulations 2000, was perfectly in order as none of the national calendar”, “not solely of interest to those who other terrestrial broadcasters had submitted a bid. follow the sport in question”. An event which satisfies this main criterion is not listed automatically; it should Recently there has been a similar controversy in the also command a large television audience and have a Republic of Ireland over the exclusive rights that BSkyB history of being broadcast live on free-to-air services. have for the Ryder Cup to be played at the Kildare’s K Even then the Secretary of State must have regard to Club later this year. The Ttaoiseach, Bertie Ahern, has other factors affecting the likely costs and benefits to indicated his desire that the event should be screened the sport concerned, to the broadcasting industry and to on a free-to-air channel such as RTE or TV3, despite the viewers such as: the practicality of full live coverage on a long-standing contract between the PGA European Tour general channel, the impact of listing in reducing income and BSkyB. for the sport and the likely impact of listing on the broadcasting market. The criteria summarises as follows: In other parts of the world, some countries have very “no single factor automatically commands listing as a liberal regimes and others more restrictive. Countries response, nor does failure to meet an individual criterion such as United States and New Zealand have no disqualify an event from consideration”. protectionist provisions. In comparison, in Australia, there are 40 sports events on the protected list, which When making its decision in March 1998, the Advisory should not be shown live on Pay-TV. Australia’s so- Group recommended that cricket Test matches played in called ‘anti-siphoning’ laws have been in place for over England should be placed in Group B, thereby enabling 10 years and were recently extended by the the sport’s governing body to negotiate a deal with any government to 2011. There is a long tradition of people broadcaster provided that highlights were available to being able to watch major sporting events on free-to-air free-to-air broadcasters. In making its decision the Group television. However not surprisingly, a number of singled out cricket for special treatment, commenting Australian media companies have been arguing for a that “the Tests are the most problematic of the events more liberal regime. In April 2003, News Corp Ltd’s under consideration”. It continued: “We consider that deputy chief operating officer, Lachlan Murdoch, called Test matches possess sufficient national resonance to on the federal government to drop the provisions, merit some measure of protection for coverage ... which give free-to-air channels the first chance to buy However, a Test series played over 30 days cannot be broadcast rights for the selected sports.