Kevin Carpenter provides an update on match-fixing policy and possible reforms from Law Accord and the “Don’t Fix It” training event, part of a European Union funded initiative which was being led by FIFPro, alongside UEFA.

On 9 May 2013, AGCM, the Italian antitrust authority, rejected the claims of RTI, a company belonging to Mediaset group, which alleged that SKY Italia abused its dominant position with reference to the acquisition of media rights to the UEFA Champions League tournament (from 2012 to 2015) and to the World Cup tournament in 2010 and 2014.

Two separate appeals have been heard in the world of cricket in the last month, both concerning findings of corruption against former Pakistan cricketers, Danish Kaneria and Mohammad Asif. They both have been unsuccessful, but they have each made legal history. In this blog, I focus on Mohammad Asif.

The amended Rules of the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) are in force as of 1 March 2013. The amendments and the new Code are published on the website of the CAS (www.tas-cas.org) and are for the most part, useful or even necessary changes. There is, however, one new rule in particular which I would like to point out as it may become a procedural pitfall for the parties and their attorneys in the future (see R57). In my opinion, its validity is questionable.

In our last blog (Cricket disciplinary appeal is an Arbitration) we we discussed in detail the Commercial Court ruling that Pakistani international bowler, Danish Kaneria’s appeal proceedings against his life time ban for involvement in spot-fixing under the ECB’s Disciplinary Regulations are an “arbitration” for the purposes of the Arbitration Act 1996. Here are at least 10 key considerations arising from England and Wales Cricket Board Limited v Kaneria [2013] EWHC 1074 (Comm):

In this, the first Blackstone Chambers blog for LawInSport Nick De Marco explains why the Commercial Court ruling in the England and Wales Cricket Board Limited v Kaneria case that under the ECB’s Disciplinary Regulations an appeal is an “arbitration” for the purposes of the Arbitration Act 1996 is a momentous one for sports’ lawyers and governing bodies.

On the 8 May the Advertising Standards Agency, published their adjudication on Cassava Enterprises (Gibraltar) Ltd. The case is interesting as it relates to the use of advertisements via social media platforms and what this may mean for gaming companies with wider implications for sports professionals and their brand management which we will explore below. 

Much has been written since the FA handed down a 10 game ban about the proportionality of response and the impartiality of the independent panel set up to investigate the Suarez incident. However, it is worth taking a moment to consider the political and commercial consequences of Suarez’s latest transgression.

Over the past two weeks I have been fortunate to have been involved with three prestigious sports law conferences in different parts of the world. All of which focussed solely on or covered the hot topic of match-fixing. This two-part blog is a reflection on the themes and issues which arose out of the three conferences.

After two decades on the basketball court, Michael Jordan, one the greatest basketball players of all time, is currently learning the rules of defence and offence in a different game: the Chinese legal system.  Qiaodan Sports Company Limited (“Qiaodan Sports“), a Chinese sportswear company, are throwing their legal dispute with him back into his court.

As part of full and frank disclosure I should say at the outset of this blog that I gamble on sports (not well I hasten to add) and like doing so. Part of the reason for this being that I live in Great Britain (comprising England, Wales and Scotland), a jurisdiction I often laud for having one of the most liberal yet well regulated sports gambling sectors in the world. This reputation has been greatly enhanced since the Gambling Act 2005 came into force on 1 September 2007.

In this blog, we discuss the role and structure of the supporters’ trust, the advantages and disadvantages of community ownership in the context of professional sport, and shareholder protections and remedies.

In 1995 the case of Jean-Marc Bosman came before the European Court of Justice and changed the face of football in Europe. The case involved (amongst other issues) a challenge to the legality of the transfer system for football players. The ECJ found in favour of Bosman and against his club, RFC Liege, the Belgium FA and UEFA, determining that transfer fees for out of contract players were illegal where a player was moving between one EU nation and another.   

Two separate appeals have been heard in the world of cricket in the last month, both concerning findings of corruption against former Pakistan cricketers, Danish Kaneria and Mohammed Asif. They both have been unsuccessful, but they have each made legal history.

The recent case involving Henning Berg and Blackburn Rovers highlighted a number of problems that currently engulf the club but it also raised an interesting legal question. Does a Managing Director of a football club have authority to sign and enter into a contract of employment with a football manager on behalf of the club?