Sports Law Round-Up

Liverpool wins High Court battle with New Balance 
 
In the previous Sports Law Round-Up post, the dispute between Liverpool Football Club and New Balance, its current kit supplier, was outlined. Since the time of its writing, the High Court has ruled on the case, siding with the Merseyside club. 
 
Liverpool emerged victorious in its legal battle against the US sportswear company, after the latter attempted to prevent the 2019 European champions from signing a £70m-a-year kit deal with Nike. The High Court ruled that Liverpool is not obliged to accept New Balance’s counter-offer, with Mr Justice Teare citing Nike’s plans to use its endorsement deals with stars to promote Liverpool kits globally as being a key factor in his decision. The judge decided that Nike’s ability to call on a selection of international celebrities, such as LeBron James and Serena Williams, meant that its marketing reach could not be matched by New Balance, making New Balance’s terms therefore less favourable to Liverpool FC than Nike’s. Thus, New Balance had not fulfilled the conditions of the matching rights clause, and so Liverpool was free to contract with Nike. New Balance’s subsequent application for permission to appeal the judgment was refused by the Court of Appeal. 
 
Israel Folau settles with Rugby Australia 
 
Rugby player Israel Folau has reached a settlement with Rugby Australia (RA) following the termination of his contract, which came after the former Wallabies star controversially made an anti-gay post on social media.
 
In April 2019, the Australian fullback uploaded an image on Instagram which declared that “hell awaits” gay people, along with several other groups such as “drunks” and “atheists”, despite receiving previous warnings over his social media activity. Folau was notified that the post constituted a “high-level breach” of the player code of conduct, before having his four-year contract with Rugby Australia terminated in May. 
 
Israel Folau, a devout Christian, then began a lawsuit which sought to sue RA for A$14m (£7.4m), arguing that he was unfairly dismissed on the grounds of religious discrimination. Folau was previously one of the nation’s highest-paid athletes and it is believed that he was seeking both monetary compensation and a return to the national side.
 
It was announced in early December 2019 that the two parties had reached a confidential settlement, avoiding a costly trial. In a joint statement, both the rugby player and Rugby Australia apologised for any “hurt or harm” they caused each other. 
 
Rio 2016 boxing officials banned from 2020 Olympics 
 
An International Olympic Committee (IOC) task force has announced that none of the 36 boxing referees and judges used at the Rio 2016 Olympic games will be allowed to officiate at Tokyo 2020. 
 
Rather, referees and judges for the 2020 Olympic Games will be selected from a pool of International Boxing Association (AIBA) officials, who have met certain criteria to ensure their suitability. 
 
Although a 2017 AIBA investigation found no interference with results had occurred, several officials were sent home from Rio in 2016 after there were a number of questionable decisions throughout the boxing tournament. For example, the men’s bantamweight quarter-final saw judges controversially award victory to Russia’s Vladimir Nikitin over Irishman Michael Conlan, who subsequently delivered a strong-worded interview, accusing amateur boxing officials of corruption. 
 
The IOC boxing task force said its decision not to use Rio 2016 judges in Tokyo was one of a number of "measures aimed at increasing clarity, transparency and integrity". One such measure which will be introduced at Tokyo is that of making judges display their score cards publicly at the end of each round, as opposed to doing so simply at the conclusion of a bout. 
 
Chelsea transfer ban halved 
 
Chelsea Football Club will be free to sign new players in January 2020, after an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) saw their FIFA transfer ban reduced from two windows to just one, which was served in the summer of 2019. 
 
The English Premier League side were handed the original ban in February 2019. According to FIFA, the sanction was imposed upon Chelsea after it was found the club breached Article 19 and Article 18bis of the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP). Article 19 concerns the protection and registration of minors, while Article 18bis relates to third-party influence on clubs. 
 
CAS have ruled that, although there were violations of Article 19.1 and 19.3 of the RSTP, this occurred for a significantly smaller number of players (about one third of the violations found by FIFA). Also, the violations of other RSTP rules by Chelsea were deemed less serious than originally ruled by FIFA. Thus, the Court reduced the sanction to just one transfer ban and halved Chelsea’s monetary fine from CHF 600,000 (£472,000) to CHF 300,000 (£236,000). 
 
Russia given four-year ban by WADA
 
Russia has been banned for four years from all major sporting events by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA). WADA found the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) to be incompliant after it reportedly manipulated data handed over to WADA in January 2019. 
 
Although Russia will still be able to take part in the UEFA Euro 2020 tournament, they will not be able to participate in the 2020 Olympics and Paralympics, nor the 2022 World Cup. In addition, Russia is disqualified from hosting any major sporting event or applying for hosting opportunities, and the Russian flag will not be allowed to fly at any major event.
 
However, despite Russia not being allowed any formal presence at such tournaments, Russian athletes that have not been implicated in doping can still compete under a neutral flag. Indeed, Russia faced similar restrictions in the 2018 Winter Olympics, where 168 Russian athletes competed as “Olympic athletes from Russia”. 
 
RUSADA has since stated that it does not agree with the punishment from WADA and will appeal the decision, which would take the case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport next year.