Sports Law & Practice

I am leaving sports law aside today to consider the latest developments at Manchester United. The developments are thick and fast and concern not only the sporting future of the club, but also the governance of it, which appears to be under intense scrutiny from one of the most important sections of such corporate mechanism: the fans. The developments, inevitably, would touch upon contractual, commercial and corporate relationships and as such, they may determine the sporting future of the club.

The recent outcome reached by the Higher Regional Court of Munich in the Claudia Pechstein matter, illustrates the procedural and jurisdictional problems associated with the issue of self-regulation in sport. It also serves as a clear indicator of the fine and delicate balance between external regulation and self-regulation in sport.

It is not often we see sporting governing bodies sanctioning football players for issues with regards to public speaking, although when such public speaking occurs in written form and on social media, the punishment is usually swift and severe.  Rio Ferdinand must have realised that this is certainly the case, when The FA, a few days ago, handed down, against him, a three-match ban and a £25,000 fine for the use of the word 'sket' in a tweet. It also ordered Rio Ferdinand to attend an education course.   For those who are unfamiliar with the definition of the word 'sket', it is submitted that the offending word makes reference to a woman or a girl that could be characterised as promiscuous. It is considered to be slang and by definition, it is derogatory. The offending tweet, which was in response to criticism against Rio Ferdinand was published as follows:  “@ManCunian56: @rioferdy5 @matiousmarston Maybe QPR will sign a good CB they need one” > get ya ...

I have just finished advising on a dispute between a professional football player and a premier league club in a major European league. The dispute was settled between the parties, a few days before commencement of legal proceedings. In many ways, this dispute highlighted the lengths the parties to the dispute are prepared to follow, in order for them to achieve a pre-mature termination of the contract of employment.

I promised, some time ago, that I will publish my findings on a wider research project that relates to the case of the football club of Rangers. The project has now been completed and as it is featured in a legal journal, it is currently going through the proofing stage by independent referees [including well respected practitioners and academics]. I am hoping that the findings will be published before the end of the year.

Football administration in Europe is in crisis. Fans around Europe protest against the lack of transparency in the decision making process and against those who have been given the mandate to organise football in their country.  The fans, who on many occasions sacrifice the very last penny they have to support their beloved club, have been let down. This has to stop. We must all be prepared for the imminent apocalypsis, regarding the dubious dealings of those who have chosen to ignore transparency and integrity, in the name of money and satisfaction of personal relationships. The truth must be told. Dr Gregory Ioannidis 2 June 2013

Self-regulation is the necessary aspect that characterises the existence of two of the most important sporting governing bodies in the world: FIFA & UEFA. Their particular insistence on protecting self-regulation has been misinterpreted by many commentators and stakeholders in Greece. As a result, Greek football is now fast approaching a word-wide embarrassment.