Sport and the Law 2nd Edition

The traditional approach to sports governing bodies has been to view them as autonomous and private associations and thus immune from the intervention of the law. This view does not reflect the reality. Sport is an industry which accounts for around three percent of the European Union's (EU) Gross Domestic Product (GDP). A number of recent scandals at international level including, the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) and corruption and extortion in the wake of widespread doping of Russian athletes and the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the indictment of a number of officials on charges of racketeering and money-laundering. At a national level, the Olympic Council of Ireland (OCI) and its former President, Pat Hickey were the subject of a nonstatutory inquiry following the incarceration of Hickey in a Rio prison for allegedly touting Irish allocation tickets. The Irish Athletic Boxing Association (IABA) and the resignation of Billy Walsh, the head coach of the high-performance unit culminated in a meeting of the Joint Committee on Transport and Communications. These scandals have highlighted the importance of good governance and as a corollary the need for public confidence to be restored. The law has a role to play, however, the extent of its involvement has been the subject of academic discourse. Sport and the Law identifies the main legal concepts and draws on case law and legislation from Ireland and adopts a comparative methodology as it examines other jurisdictions including England and Wales, Canada and Australian. It covers topics including: Sports governance at domestic and international level; Sports law or sport and the law, the extent to which the law should involve itself in sporting matters, sources of law and the definition of a sport with a discussion of the recent Court of Justice of the European Union's (CJEU) decision in the case of The English Bridge Union Limited v Commissioners for Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs; Violence in sport and the application of the criminal law with a focus on the GAA, Ice Hockey and the response of the Canadian authorities and courts, boxing and Mixed Martial Arts (MMA); Civil liability and sport and its application to participants, referees, medics and coaches; Drugs in Sport: the Irish Sport Anti-doping rules and decisions...