Sports Law

Human beings are involved in sports activities since times

immemorial. From the earliest days of human civilization till
date, sports have developed from a mere source of personal
entertainment to a global industry comprising more than 3%
of world trade. In the UK, sports provide employment to more
than 420,000 people. It is one of the largest revenue
generating industries of the world and with the proliferation of
the Internet and other forms of media, the sports industry is
set to grow even at a faster pace in the future. An industry of
billions of dollars with a pervasive global presence is bound to
breed its own disputes and this resulted in the growth and
development of sports law as a separate discipline in its own
right.

Sports law is no longer an applied law or an amalgam of laws

in some jurisdictions, which have taken the lead and enacted
separate legislation concerning sports. For instance, in India
sports figures in the Concurrent list of the Seventh Schedule
(entry 33) of the Constitution on which both the union and
state legislatures are competent to make laws. There are
already 3 States; Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh and Uttar
Pradesh, which have enacted laws on regulating sports
activity including registration, regulation and recognition of
Sports Associations (Uttar Pradesh has since repealed the
Act).

In the field of sports, the club is the basic unit at the grass
root level. At the top of the hierarchy are the international
sports bodies for each sports made up of national bodies of
different countries. The national sports bodies again consist
of the provincial or state bodies of different countries. The
provincial state bodies comprise the different districts or
clubs.

In many countries, such as India, national as well as

 provincial sports bodies, clubs, associations or societies are
usually set up under the law of societies. These are
autonomous non-profit making private bodies. Further, many
of these are also established as non-profit associations under
the company law jurisdiction in the UK and commonwealth
countries including India. These organizations cannot
distribute their surplus or make payment of dividends to
members. Their surplus, if any, has to be solely and wholly
applied for furtherance of organizational objectives.

In the USA and UK the sports bodies have multiple obligations

under the sports law. They are under the law bound not to
make any gender discrimination among the players. For
instance, Title IX in the USA is an important Act of 1972, which
prohibits a federally funded institute to discriminate on the basis
of gender.

They must also allow the players to unionize and negotiate

collective bargaining agreements with the management on their
terms and conditions of work including pay, hours of work etc.

In cases involving allegations of drug abuse and use of

performance enhancing drugs these bodies must give the
concerned player the right of being heard before taking any
punitive action against him.

Since players are nowadays under public and media attention,

these bodies must be careful not to cause any damage to the
reputation of the players and not to exploit the celebrity status
of the players without their consent. In default, these bodies
become liable in damages to the aggrieved player. Spectators
can also sue the sports bodies or clubs for negligence under
the law of torts when they suffer unexpected injuries, given the
nature of the game.

Need for Laws

The Sporting World has been plagued by scandals and
controversies in the past few decades. The Olympic Games
Bidding Scandal, the recent IPL scam and allegations of sexual
harassment by the Indian Women’s Hockey Team have rocked
the nation. From six gold medals in a row from 1928 to 1956,
the Indian Hockey team hit an all time low failing to qualify for
the 2008 Olympics. This incident exposed the
maladministration and insularity of a defective system that
drained our resources. Even the Gentleman’s Game Cricket has
been marred by match fixing and payment from bookies. All
these incidents expose the dark side of a highly competitive
world.

The mechanism of the economics of the sporting world was

taken up by Simon Rottenburg in his seminal work on
professional sports. He analysed professional sports with the
paradigms applicable to any other economic activity and came
to some brilliant conclusions. He defined the sporting
competition as a joint product and a collective effort of a
number of factors. He said that no single sporting team or
player could offer an interesting and independent product of
value in sports. Thus a sporting spectacle required a
Competitive Balance and the ordinary rules applicable to a pure
market had to be modified here. Even though competition was
the core value that promoted sports, one needed Competitive
Balance or Equality of competitors to some degree for the
success of the event. Revenue was generated by the excitement
offered by teams more or less evenly matched. Thus the
principle that public interest is best served by the unrestrained
free markets did not apply here. The second pillar on which the
sporting world thrived was the unpredictability of outcome.
These two factors defined the mechanism on which sporting
industry worked

Vision of a Comprehensive Sports Law in India

•The Law should establish and promote rules of ethics and spirit of sportsmanship among competitors
and the bodies involved in decision making. Ethical solution to legal issues in sports is the core idea
behind the vision. This will enhance the morale of the players by improving contractual dynamics
among them and the administrative bodies. Contracts must clarify expectations and commitment
from the players and agents.

•Consultancy services must be provided to the sports bodies and players. Co-ordination of the legal
fraternity and the sporting community is a pre-requisite for such a healthy interaction.

•National identity and the spirit of representing India must supersede political decisions. It would be
highly advisable to include a former player of a game at the helm of affairs rather than a mere
administrator or politician with vested interests.

•To check corruption, tenure caps and age restriction on office bearers of federation must be brought
in. Denial of essential facilities and exclusionary policies that are intentional at a player or a rival
organisation should result in the termination of the services of the administrator concerned. Misuse of
authority must be severely dealt with.

•Salary caps on players and teams should be brought in. Practices that create a barrier for new
entrants, draw out the existing players and lead to the foreclosure of a competition must not be
tolerated.

•A greater sensitivity and legal support must be provided for women players. Perpetrators of
harassment and discrimination should be severely punished.

•Research of excellent quality must be encouraged in the area of sports through continuing education.

The area of sports law is relatively new and at the nascent stage of conception in our country.
Nevertheless, it is an area of study that is worthy of definition and in depth academic inquiry and
practice. A well planned exhaustive competition compliance programme can be of great benefit to all
enterprises. A fresh perspective, an independent authority and a comprehensive law is the need of the
hour.

The Sports Law & Welfare Association of India (SLAWIN) is a nonprofit,

national, professional, organization whose common goal is the
understanding, advancement, and ethical practice of, "Sports Law" in
India for the promotion of Sports, by bringing Legal Practitioners and
Sports persons together.
The front pages of newspapers are a daily reminder of human folly, be
it corruption, bribery, rape, murder, Illicit sex and drug abuse.
That is why many of us bypass the news and turn to sports in search of
something more inspiring. Yet lately sports has had an uncharacteristic
run on the front page due to its own failing. Stories such as the
Olympic games bidding scandal, the Peter Korda drug doping affairs,
and Cricket series of stumbles over mach fixing, payments from
bookies and Ranatunga debacles Demonstrates the obvious-- sports
has a dark side like other affairs .
Of course, sports has always had its disputes - a notable feature of late
is the increasing and decisive role of lawyers in settling outcomes.
Further, recent victories by Arjuna Ranatunga over the International
Cricket Council and Korda over the International Tennis Federation
were widely condemned because lawyers exploited legal loopholes in
the sporting rules-book. Malcolm Speed, the Australian Cricket Board's
Chief Executive, doesn't like the fact the sport is a growth industry for
lawyers; but nowadays, he says, legal training is crucial for
professional sports administrators.
In the last year alone I have handled several matters in various High
Courts and the Supreme Court of India settling the disputes for holding
the office of the Triathlon Federation of India. In which due to the lack
of legal training the matters were hanging in the several High Courts of
India. Where as on pleading in the matter I submitted before the
Honorable Supreme Court of India that "under the provisions of the
Constitution of the Indian Olympic Association there is an Arbitration
clause in such a disputes by IOA, so that the Sportsmen and Sports
shall not suffer". Agreeing the provisions of the IOA Honorable
Supreme Court of India directed the IOA to appoint an Arbitrator in the
matter and settle the disputes.
Thus in compliance of the direction of the judgment of Supreme Court
of India the long battle of two groups of TFI had been resolved and the
sports show of The TFI is in the smooth sail.
Like it or not, the infiltration of law in sports is on a permanent growth
curve and the," modern sports administrators" has to rely heavily on
legal advice. "Sports Law" is a growth industry in many part of the
world .Solicitors, Attorneys and Lawyers in other countries like
America, Canada, and Australia and New Zealand and playing their
prominent roles in the growth of, "Sports Law" in their countries.
In India, "Sports Law" is very new and growing with the imaginative
idea of Dr. Amaresh Kumar, who has graduated and post graduated in
Physical Education, from the nation's premier and only University of
Physical Education & sports, "Lakshmibai National Institute of Physical
Education" Gwalior some where in the year 1995, when he was
terminated illegally from the services of this Institute and took over
the Advocacy as a challenge for his avocation. He had practiced
matters related with Service, Educational, Institutional etc. but gave a
new thought to practice the cases in Sports related matters. He had
appeared in various High Courts and Supreme Court of India and
pleaded the sports law from 1995 to 1999 - till his reinstatement.
Aims of Sports Law and Welfare Association of India are:
• To provide Educational Opportunities and
disseminate data and information regarding
specific areas of sports law
• To provide a forum for lawyers representing
Athletes, Teams, Leagues, Conferences,
Civic Recreational Programs, Educational
Institutions and other Organizations
involved in Professional, Collegiate, Olympic, Physical
Education and Amateur Sports. SLAWIN's role is to foster
the discussion of legal problems affecting sports and to
promote the exchange of a variety of perspectives and
positions of sports law
• To promote and, where necessary, establish rules of ethics
for sports persons and practicing professional of law, its
members involved in sports law
• To produce high quality research in the field of sport and
the law
• To publish widely and disseminate research findings
• To provide up to date information on current sports law
issues including a resource of sports law material
• To provide consultancy to sportsmen and sports bodies
concerning sports law issues
• To promote undergraduate and postgraduate study,
research and continuing education in sports law
• To promote ethical solutions to legal issues in sport and
notions of "Fair-Play"
• To positively address all issues of discrimination in sport.