Blackstone Chambers - Sports Law Analysis
Blackstone Chambers is acknowledged as the leading sports set at the Bar.” “The set stands apart from its peers for sports work: no other set can match either the breadth of its expertise or the sheer number of its sports experts.”
CAS, the War in Ukraine and Russian football bans
The Russian invasion of Ukraine commenced on 24 February 2022. Four days later the Bureau of the FIFA Council suspended Russia’s national teams from participation in FIFA compet...
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The Standard of Proof and the Threshold for Appeal in Sports Disciplinary Cases (The FA v Imran Louza)
The decision of an Appeal Board dismissing the FA’s appeal in the case of FA v Imran Louza1 is significant for t...
World Cup Qatar 2022 - Why The UK Government’s Advice To LGBT+ Fans Could Put Them At Risk
In under a week, Qatar will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup. As English and Welsh football fans prepare to travel to Qat...
ECB Racism Disciplinary Proceedings To Be Held In Public: Open Justice In Sports Disputes
On 3 November 2022, the BBC announced that in an “unprecedented” move the England and Wales Cricket Board’s (‘ECB’) d...
Fulham FC v Jones: When Is There Civil Liability For Causing A Serious Injury In Football?
This article examines the case between Fulham Football Club and Mr Jordan Levi Jones which concerns the circumstances...
The perilous state of EFL club finances: A review of the Derby County and Sheffield Wednesday cases
This article examines several cases involving the English Football League (EFL) and two of its clubs: Sheffield Wedne...
The Racing Partnership Case – The Rights and Obligations Of Distributors Of Live Sports Betting Data
The Court of Appeal’s recent judgment in The Racing Partnership v Sports Information Services[1] is e...
From rags to riches: what next for salary caps in football?
A month ago this week, the English Football League (EFL) confirmed[1] that it would immediately withdraw sa...
Discrimination in football: a guide to The FA’s new charging policies and sanctioning guidelines
In August 2020, after consultation with various stakeholders, The Football Association (The FA) published new ch...
The power to end the football season: lessons from the decision in South Shields FC v The FA
The distinguished arbitral panel, chaired by Lord Dyson with Charles Flint QC and Andrew Green QC, recently deli...
For the love of money: exploring the decision in the Saracens salary cap case
In November 2019, an Independent Panel of Premiership Rugby handed down its eagerly anticipated decision concerning t...
A guide to The FA’s new Intermediaries Regulations 2019-2020
The FA recently brought in various amendments to its Regulations on Working with Intermediaries1 and, on 29 June 2019...
Sex on a spectrum in the binary world of sport: the CAS’s decision in the case of Caster Semenya & Ors v the IAAF
On 30 April 2019, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) delivered its award in the case of Caster Semenya &am...
A cautionary tale for arbitrators in sports law disputes – lessons from Fleetwood Wanderers v AFC Fylde
In Fleetwood Town FC v AFC Fylde1, the High Court upheld a challenge to an arbitral award on the grounds of seri...
The right to a fair hearing in sports’ cases: lessons from the ECtHR’s decision in Mutu & Pechstein
One of the most controversial aspects within the evolving world of sports law involves players’ and athletes’ rights ...
Does ‘Football Law’ exist and what is it?
This May sees the publication of the first comprehensive guide to legal issues in football in the world as well as a ...
Key points from The F.A. -v- Massimo Cellino case on unauthorised agents and the disciplinary process
Almost a year since the case was heard before an FA Regulatory Commission, the final decision in the case of The FA v...
Important changes to The FA’s Regulations on Intermediaries
As spending rose ever higher during the 2017 summer transfer window, The FA has been busy making some important...
An explanation of interim injunctions in sports litigation
Injunctions are a mandatory order requiring a party to act or, most often, refrain from acting in a particular way. T...
Clarifying The FA’s prohibition on betting activities: an analysis of the Nick Bunyard decision
The application and interpretation of The Football Association’s (“The FA’s”) rules prohibiting betting activities, c...
A review of key points from the ITF's decision in the Sharapova doping case
The recent decision1 of The International Tennis Federation’s (ITF) Anti-Doping Tribunal in the Sharapova case is a f...
Fiduciary duties, football, and the fundamental importance of the contractual relationship
Can a senior employee be ordered to pay back his past contractual remuneration to his employer as a remedy for breach...
Do sports clip sharing apps breach copyright law? A review of the “Fanatix” case
The recent decision of Arnold J. in (1) England & Wales Cricket Board Ltd, (2) Sky UK Ltd v (1) Tixdaq Ltd, ...
The FA v Jake Livermore – Proportionality trumps mandatory doping sanction in exceptional circumstances
In Football Association v Jake Livermore,1 an FA Regulatory Commission on 8 September 2015 applied the proportio...
How do we address inconsistent pitch invasion sanctions? The FA v. Reading FC
Walk into the boardroom of many a football club and you are likely to pass a proudly displayed framed photograph refl...
Another round in favour of sports arbitration: Court confirms boxing disciplinary appeal panel is an Arbitration
In Bruce Baker v The British Boxing Board of Control,1 the Chancery Division found the Boxing Board’s appeal pro...
How does the law define a sport?
What is a “sport”? What activities are included in the legal definition of "sport"? The legal status of the car...
A round up of recent football case law
In this round up we highlight some interesting football cases to have taken place during the first quarter of 2015. A...
The new FA Intermediaries Regulations & disputes likely to arise
In this article1, barrister Nick De Marco2 explains the new FA and FIFA Regulations on working with Intermediaries, a...
Hull City Tigers v The FA - the importance of procedural fairness
Hull City (the “Club”) have been successful in quashing the high profile decision of The FA Council1 to refuse its ap...
Sailing through sports disciplinary proceedings
The recent decision1 of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Dirk de Ridder (D.) v International Sailing Feder...
The end of the licensed football agent?
Earlier this year Football’s World governing body, FIFA, published its Regulations on Working with Intermediaries1. T...
Boxing case underscores courts' reluctance to interfere in decisions of national sporting bodies
In a recent bout in the High Court, the specificity of sporting disputes once again came to the fore. In Bruce Baker ...
Kaneria’s life ban upheld
The Commercial Court has dismissed a challenge by Pakistani international bowler Danish Kaneria to a lifetime ban uph...
Sports arbitration: A matter of choice for athletes?
Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights provides a litigant with a right to a fair and public hearing by...
West Ham v FA – Interim Relief in urgent football cases and the test for Red Card appeals
The Football Association (“FA”) have just published the full written reasons in the West Ham United v FA Rule K Inter...
Force India and damages for misuse of confidential information
In the world of Formula 1 (“F1”), millions of pounds can be won or lost over the matter of a few seconds. Mega-rich c...
Football’s match fixing wake up call
The recent allegations and arrests made in relation to match fixing in football have served as an important wake up c...
Lessons from Lance – Recovering Sponsorship and Endorsement Monies
James Segan discusses the difficult issue of how sponsors can recover endorsement payments when the sponsored athlete...
A lot of Wonga at stake
Papiss Cisse’s dispute with Newcastle United Football Club about wearing the official shirt sponsor’s logo raises som...
10 key considerations arising from Kaneria
In our last blog (Cricket disciplinary appeal is an Arbitration) we we discussed in detail the Commercial Court rulin...
Cricket disciplinary appeal is an Arbitration
In this, the first Blackstone Chambers blog for LawInSport Nick De Marco explains why the Commercial Court ruling in ...
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