International Sports Law: An Introductory Guide WORK
Prof Blackshaw is a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and an international sports lawyer with over 30 years' experience. He is a prolific author of books and articles on sports law, including his latest book entitled International Sports Law: An Introductory Guide published by the Asser Press in The Hague, The Netherlands. He is a member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), where he specializes in sports mediation and conciliation. In many respects, he is a pioneer in the practice and teaching of sports law, which, he says, is an ongoing, developing and ever-challenging branch of the law. He touched on several sports issues, including the controversies surrounding the granting of the World Cup to Russia (coming up in June this year), and later on, to Qatar in 2022.
International Sports Law: An Introductory Guide
He also spoke of several bodies set up to police or regulate different aspects of sports, including the ESSA (European Sports Security Association, based in Brussels, Belgium, set up to identify irregular sports betting patterns); and the ICSS (International Centre for Sports Security, based in Doha, Qatar, which does event security design, and provides services in good governance, investigations and intelligence).The ICSS aims to galvanise international support for integrity in sport globally, he said.
The intended subject specific learning outcomes.On successfully completing the module students will be able to:1.Demonstrate a detailed understanding of foundational elements and issues concerning sports law.2.Demonstrate a detailed appreciation of the international context and influences on the development of sports law.3.Demonstrate a detailed appreciation of the role of law in giving effect to sports policy objectives and values.4.Offer critical evaluation of the role of law and policy involved in the development of sports governance.5.Locate and retrieve legal, policy and other relevant sources for the study of sports law and using these effectively in written work.6.Understand relevant legal sources such as legislative material and judicial decisions.The intended generic learning outcomes.On successfully completing the module students will be able to:1.Demonstrate an ability to analyse salient issues and problems and critically appraise the issues to their wider socio-economic context.2.Present research-substantiated analysis and arguments in written work.3.Recognise and evaluate alternative solutions to problems.4.Demonstrate self-critical learning skills, including reflection upon learning progress.5.Organise their work, engage in independent research, study and use of resources.6.Produce written work in an appropriate format, with correct use of spelling, punctuation, grammar, citation and references.
Today sports have an increasing influence within society and commerce. Major sports events like the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup are watched by billions of people around the world. Complementary to sports-related national law is lex sportiva, such as FIFA Regulations and the IOC Code of Ethics. International sports federations govern international sport. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) routinely decides on the most important disputes stemming from international sporting competitions.
Today sports have an increasing influence within society and commerce. Major sports events like the Olympic Games and the FIFA World Cup are watched by billions of people around the world, causing a social and economic impact globally. International sports federations (ISFs) govern and control international sport. They cannot be regulated by national courts or governments. In Sports Law a distinction has to be made between global sports law and international sports law and sports-related national law. Examples of Lex Sportiva are the FIFA Regulations governing International Matches and the IOC Code of Ethics.
UNODC is preparing a technical guide to assist Member States in creating or strengthening their national brand of prison products emanating from prison-based work programmes in line with international standards. The guide will focus on requirements in terms of safeguards to preserve prisoners' rights, and on requirements related to marketing and the organizational set-up of such a brand.
[1] About one in three Canadians aged 15 and over participates regularly in sport and over half this number do so as a registered participant in a club or league. The Canadian amateur sport system involves about 400,000 trained and certified coaches and is managed almost entirely by volunteers - nearly two million of them (Sport Participation in Canada - 1998 Report).[2] The non-profit sport sector in Canada has had to grapple with enormous challenges through the 1990s: challenges made even more acute by the funding policies of the federal and provincial governments in the 1980s that created a virtual welfare state for amateur sport. In the early 1990s it was not unusual for an amateur sport organization to derive as much as 90 percent of its revenues from government sources. Today, the sport sector is learning how to pay its own way through membership development, event promotion, product sales, marketing and sponsorship. The skill set of the successful sport manager is evolving accordingly.[3] Some of these materials are adapted from two publications of the Centre for Sport and Law: Your Risk Management Program: A Handbook for Sport Organizations (1998) and Negligence and Liability: A Guide for Sport Organizations (1995).[4] It is our observation that the majority of amateur sport organizations are only just learning to exploit the potential of their intangible property assets. As a source of revenue these are becoming increasingly important. The sport manager interested in learning more about managing intellectual property may refer to Doing Business with the Private Sector: A Commercial Handbook, written by David Lech and published by the Centre for Sport and Law.[5] Over the years the Centre for Sport and Law has assisted numerous sport organizations in managing their disputes. In one wrongful dismissal case, the Executive Director of the organization kept track of the time spent on the dispute - before the issue was resolved, she had spent 240 hours, or the equivalent of over six weeks of professional time, on the case.[6] The general practice of other members of the sport community is typically a reliable indicator of appropriate behaviour since the standard of care is related to what a reasonable sport practitioner would do in the same or similar circumstances. However, sport managers should also be careful about following the crowd too closely: if following common practice entails risks that should have been recognized, mere conformity to normal practice may not be enough to meet the standard of care. The standard always relates to what should be done, not what was done or what usually is done.[7] The principle of vicarious liability is important in the sport setting because the responsibility for program delivery rests very often with volunteers. In this area of the law, employees and volunteers are treated the same, yet it is common for the relationship with a volunteer to not be as clearly described as the relationship with an employee. For example, many volunteers may perform their services without the benefit or direction of a job description. When a volunteer is negligent, the organization may be vicariously liable if the volunteer was acting within the scope of his or her duties - hence the importance of defining and clarifying what these duties are. In recent years there has been a trend in the courts to hold organizations increasingly accountable for the harm suffered by clients/participants at the hands of their staff and volunteers. Today, an organization may be held vicariously liable if the circumstances of its program or activity (effected through planning, coordinating, staffing, supervising, etc.) significantly enhance the risk of harm to participants.[8] This broader approach to risk management by governing bodies is recommended for several reasons. Firstly, these organizations give their "sanction" to certain competitive events organized by others, which means that the governing body's name is attached to the event and the organization would likely be implicated in any serious accident or legal matter. Secondly, many of these governing bodies have a common insurance program with their member clubs, which means that they have a vested interest (through low premiums, a good claims history and a safe record) in the activities of those clubs. Thirdly, risk management assistance and resources are an ideal member service that the governing body can provide to grass-roots associations.[9] It is strongly recommended that all sport governing bodies put into force and monitor risk management guidelines for all sanctioned events (surprisingly, relatively few sport governing bodies presently do this). These guidelines could address issues such as: insurance requirements including naming the sanctioning organization as an insured; advance preparation of an emergency response plan; orientation and training for all volunteers including security personnel; implementation of alcohol management guidelines for social events associated with the sporting event; provision of appropriate first aid and sport medicine services; and pre-event inspection of all facilities, grounds and equipment. It is also suggested that the sanctioning organization designate an official representative to work with the host organization in advance of the event, and to be on-site during the event to monitor compliance with risk management guidelines.[10] Under this statute, which exists in most provinces, an occupier is defined as a person who is in physical possession of a premises, or a person who has responsibility for and control over the condition of a premises, the activities conducted on a premises and the persons allowed to enter a premises. Control is not, however, necessarily related to exclusive possession of a premises - in some situations more than one occupier may exist. [11] Relatively few amateur sport organizations own and operate their own facilities. Rather, the common model is that these organization lease facilities of others (such as a municipality, school, college or university) for running their programs.[12] All too often sport organizations and clubs purchase insurance from a generalist, and end up with a standard policy designed for a typical small business or commercial venture. It came as a surprise to one provincial canoeing association that their policy precluded coverage for injuries sustained by operating watercraft! Insurance in sport must be approached using a sport-specific, risk management perspective. For more information, refer to the publication Insurance in Sport and Recreation: A Risk Management Approach, published by the Centre for Sport and Law.[13] Many sport organizations have used insurance programs quite effectively as a risk management incentive. For example, in some sports strict compliance with safety rules about eyeguards, mouthguards and other protective equipment is a pre-requisite for the participant to be covered by the organization's insurance programs. Other organizations use their insurance program as a lever to ensure that member clubs, leagues and associations maintain their status as "members in good standing".[14] The likelihood that a waiver will be upheld by a court will depend on many factors: how it is drafted, how it is executed, how the contents of the waiver are communicated to the person signing it, and the nature of the activity being covered by the waiver. Ethically, waivers may be appropriate for use in high-risk programs involving adults who are skilled in the sport. The appropriateness of their use in all other programs should be evaluated very carefully. 041b061a72