COVID-19: the impact of postponing or cancelling sports events in India

With the rapid spread and dangers to public health posed by COVID-19, governments across the world have implemented social distancing measures and travel constraints across the earlier months of this year, with these measures intensifying into lock-down orders and prohibitions of large gatherings.

These circumstances led to mass cancellations or postponement of national and international sporting events across the world – events such as the English Premier League, Indian Premier League (IPL), Tokyo 2020 Olympic and Paralympic Games, the 2020 Formula One season, the 2020 National Basketball Association league season, Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) Euro 2020 and Wimbledon 2020 have either been suspended, postponed or cancelled.

All suspensions, postponements and cancellations are disruptions that have legal and commercial consequences for all stakeholders of the event, from the organiser, teams, sponsors, broadcasters and commercial rights holders to the audience. This article examines the contractual and legal implications of cancellation and postponement of sporting events across these stakeholders.  Specifically, it looks at:

• Contractual remedy – the Force Majeure clause
• Legal remedy – principle of frustration of contract
• Impact and approaches to consider
  • Event organisers
  • Broadcasters
  • Event sponsors, on-ground sponsors and on-ground vendors
  • Ticket holders
  • Athletes
• Conclusion and next steps