BRITISH ASSOCIATION FOR SPORT AND LAW LIMITED FOR SPORT AND LAW BRITISH ASSOCIATION VOLUME 13 · ISSUE 1 · 2005 Sport and the Law Registered Office: c/o Pridie Brewster 1st Floor · 29-39 London Road Journal Twickenham · Middlesex · TW1 3SZ Telephone: 020 8892 3100 Facsimile: 020 8892 7604 SPORT AND LAW JOURNAL SPORT AND LAW m 7:h t VOLUME 13 · ISSUE 1 2005 }Tq 4 &v?$ OLns Registered Office: c/o Pridie Brewster 1st Floor · 29-39 London Road Twickenham · Middlesex · TW1 3SZ Telephone: 020 8892 3100 Facsimile: 020 8892 7604 www.basl.org Postgraduate Certificate Editor Simon Gardiner in Sports Law Directors Maurice Watkins: President The School of Law at King’s College London · issues for individual athletes: doping, Murray Rosen QC: Chairman offers a one-year, part-time postgraduate discipline, player contracts, endorsement Mel Goldberg: Deputy Chairman course in sports law, leading to a College contracts, civil and criminal liability for Gerry Boon: Hon. Treasurer Postgraduate Certificate in Sports Law. sports injuries; Karena Vleck: Hon. Secretary The course is led by programme director · EC law and sport: competition law, freedom Darren Bailey Jonathan Taylor, partner and head of the Sports of movement; and Nick Bitel Law Group at Hammonds, who teaches the Walter Cairns course along with other leading sports law · comparative sports law: the North American Edward Grayson practitioners including Adam Lewis, Nick Bitel, Model of Sport. Paul Harris Alasdair Bell, Justin Walkey and Mel Stein, as Tim Kerr QC well as sports law academics such as Simon The course is taught in weekly evening classes Peter McInerney Walter Nicholls Gardiner, Gary Roberts and Richard McLaren. from October to March and is open to both Fraser Reid law graduates and non-law graduates. Sam Rush The course covers the range of key sports law For further details, visit the KCL sports law Kuldip Singh QC issues: website at www.kclsportslaw.co.uk. Jonathan Taylor · constitutional issues: self-regulation by sports Richard Verow governing bodies/the European Model of For a full prospectus and application form, Sport; judicial control of sports bodies; contact: Annette Lee, School of Law, King’s College London, Strand, London WC2R 2LS 0161 236 8288 · commercial issues: broadcasting, sponsorship, Tel: 020 7848 2849 · Fax: 020 7848 2912 IP rights, ambush marketing; E-mail: [email protected] Final Film CPD credits available; equality of opportunity is College policy. Registered in England. Company No. 4947540. Registered Office: 29-39 London Road, ISSN 1353-0127 Twickenham, Middlesex TW1 3SZ. VAT Reg No. 673 5989 73 Graphic Design SPORT AND THE LAW JOURNAL VOLUME 13 · ISSUE ONE · 2005 Contents Editorial 2 Articles Alternative dispute resolution: should 24 more extensive use be made of ADR Opinion & Practice Rosalind Fox The prevalence and nature of age 4 discrimination practices in UK sport Commercialisation of major 32 and recreation organisations sports events Karen Bill Ian Hewitt Could the Olympic Games be 10 Time for a Mandatory Count: 40 illegal in European Law? Regulating for the Reform of the Nick Bitel Professional Boxing Industry in the UK Simon Gardiner Football “Tapping-up” rules 15 – anachronism or necessity? Mel Goldberg & Simon Pentol Survey and Reports Sports Law International Survey 46 Report of BASL Annual Conference 18 Walter Cairns – Lords, October 2004 Alex Kelham Sport and the Law Journal Report 106 Regulation of english soccer: 20 What role for the independent Reviews football commission? Book Reviews 121 Simon Gardiner James Nafziger (2004), International Sports Law Richard Parrish John Beech & Simon Chadwick (2004), The Business of Sport Management }Simon Gardiner 4 OLTnqs VOLUME 13 ISSUE 1 SPORT AND THE LAW JOURNAL Editorial By Simon Gardiner, Editor In the next few months the British Association for Sport does the law help or hinder the event organiser?’ and Law will be re-launching its web site at reflects a more general debate about how effectively the www.britishsportslaw.org The Journal will move to law regulates contemporary commercial activities. primarily be an electronic journal although there will be Lastly, Jack Anderson from Queen’s University Belfast, the opportunity to print off a ‘hard copy’. More details based on his completed PhD research, evaluates the will be found in the near future on the web site. future regulation of professional boxing in ‘Time for a In this latest edition of the Journal a division is made Mandatory Count: Regulating for the Reform of the into a number of Sections. The first is entitled ‘Opinion Professional Boxing Industry in the UK’. & Practice’, representing shorter articles ranging from The regular contributions of Walter Cairn’s Sports around 1500-3500 words that will focus on explanation Law Current Survey and Sport and the Law Journal and analysis of specific issues and areas of sports- Reports can also be found together with a new regular related legal practice. The other section entitled feature of Book Reviews with the focus on the eagerly ‘Articles’ includes longer analytical articles that will awaited new edition of International Sports Law by the normally be between 5000-8000 words. These will be leading international lawyer, James Nafziger and The peer-reviewed and the hope is to attract more scholarly Business of Sport Management edited by John Beech work. These two sections will hopefully represent an & Simon Chadwick. appropriate and useful balance for all those interested My contribution to this issue focuses specifically on and involved in the practice of sports law. the regulation of English football, which reflects the The Opinion & Practice section provides discussion wider debate on the regulation of professional sport and of a range of topical issues. Karen Bill’s discussion of the call for more effective internal governance of sports her research on ‘the prevalence and nature of age bodies. Related to this debate is the discussion discrimination practices in UK sport and recreation concerning how sports agents and specifically football organisations’, engages with the reality of the changing agents should be regulated in the context of on-going demographics of an aging population in the UK. Nick concerns about their activities. Football’s European Bitel’s timely question, ‘Could the Olympic Games be governing body, UEFA, has recently held the first illegal in European Law?’ focuses on whether the meeting of a working group set up to address concerns necessary government financial support for hosting the over the role of agents in the game. The working group Olympics could fall foul of the EU rules on State Aid. comprises experts from all key stakeholder groups such Mel Goldberg & Simon Pentol discuss the issues as agents, associations, clubs, leagues, player unions surrounding the Ashley Cole affair in ‘Football “tapping- and the sport’s world governing body, FIFA. up” rules - anachronism or necessity?’ Simon Gardiner’s In the UK, ever since the bungs saga in the mid- ‘Regulation of English soccer: what role for the 1990s, there has been concern over the activities of Independent Football Commission?’ evaluates the role agents in football with calls for a greater regulatory of the IFC in the context of the on-going debate framework. Players’ agents have been active in sport concerning the governance of English football. Finally, for a significant period of time. They are the ‘fixers’ for Alex Kelham provides a ‘Report of BASL Annual their clients and are invariably the contact for anyone Conference - Lords Cricket Ground, October 2004.’ wanting to do business with their client. For the client The longer Articles section includes two more they are there to provide advice on and negotiate contributions from ex-students on the KCL Postgraduate contracts and commercial endorsements etc. Since Certificate in Sports Law run by BASL Board member Bosman, it’s been far easier for dubious practice. Jonathan Taylor at King’s College London. Rosalind Fox Players know that they can start speaking legally to determines the mechanisms that should be used to other clubs six months before the contract expires. The resolve sports disputes in ‘Alternative dispute resolution: player is often persuaded by their agent not to re-sign should more extensive use be made of ADR, in with his existing club in his final year because he can particular, mediation, to resolve disputes in sport?’ Ian earn huge sums of money by way of sign-on fee if he Hewitt’s ‘Commercialisation of major sports events: leaves to go as a free agent to a new club. Players have 2 SPORT AND THE LAW JOURNAL ISSUE 1 VOLUME 13 also experienced problems because they do not professional careers which result in making these possess the requisite business or negotiations skills athletes ineligible for National Collegiate Athletic necessary to protect their personal and business Association competition. financial interests from their agents and advisors. Secondly, professional athletes who are represented Whether the business dynamics of football or more by a union have established an agent certification and generally sports agent amount to any legal wrongdoing regulation program. The player union’s authority to is questionable but certainly there are highly unethical regulate agents is found in the National Labor Relations practices. Recent examples include the fees received Act (‘NLRA’). The NLRA provides the player unions with by the agent in Harry Kewell’s transfer from Leeds to the authority to ensure that they certify every agent Liverpool and the links that exist between clubs and before the agent can negotiate an employment contract certain agents and agency firms leading to potential with any unionized team. conflicts of interest such as that between Manchester Thirdly, the rules governing athletic eligibility for most United and the Elite Sports agency run by manager Sir college and university athletes in the United States are Alex Ferguson’s son Jason.