Sports Law & Practice

I feel the need to divert slightly from the usual analysis of the current sports law developments and concentrate on a personal issue. This is the first and the last time that I am touching upon such issue and it is important for all football fans to keep an open mind when they read the lines below. It is not my intention to offend anyone, but the truth must be spoken, whether some like it or not. It is also important to protect my name and my reputation from unjustified and offensive comments, who come as a result of fanatical and  without compelling justification views. 

The developments in Scottish football, this year, have been astonishing and rather controversial. For the sports lawyer, this is a remarkable opportunity to examine and critically analyse further the perennial battle between state regulation and self-regulation. Rangers have certainly given us this opportunity with their decision to challenge the transfer embargo imposed on them, by submitting an application to a civil court in Scotland. Irrespective of the Scottish court's decision, the question remains whether the football authorities in Scotland would impose further sanctions on Rangers as a result of this development.

One of the important issues in European football concerns the ability of a football club to participate in a national football league, other than the one of its original registration. This is also an important issue for the practice of sports law. Any analysis, therefore, would encompass a wide variety of different considerations. 

It has been a remarkable week and the response, to my Rangers FC related posts, has been overwhelming and fascinating. The comments of my readers have been, by and large, very constructive and thought provoking. They have certainly generated more issues that require analysis.

I have already covered this issue in a previous post [ http://lawtop20.blogspot.com/2012/04/celtic-v-rangers-two-clubs-with-one.html ]. A great friend and colleague, however, who goes by the name of Phil Gibbs, posed several interesting questions. I re-cite Phil's questions here in the hope that all fans would be able to constructively contribute to the discussion. I am simply offering guidance in this post and if you are interested in my personal views, you may always visit the link above, which could refer you to the relevant previous post.

The ability of football players to choose the national team they wish to play for, has become a rather interesting concept over the last few years. It matters not what the reasons are, but rather what the regulations say. We all need to remember that the law changes according to the needs of society and adopts certain trends. Similarly, the relevant FIFA regulations were created in order to produce clarity and certainty in this area of football law, but above all, they were created for the protection of the integrity of the sporting competition.

I have been following very carefully the developments in Scottish football, both, from my capacity as a fan and a sports lawyer. I have shared, here, several of my thoughts, at least on an academic level. Most of my readers have responded with constructive analysis and some of their thoughts deserve credit. The discussion is certainly helping all of us to understand these complicated and controversial issues under analysis.

The discussion surrounding the role of football agents is not a new one. It has been around for years, mainly because of the large sums that are available for the services of agents. This is a fact that cannot be disputed, but the discussion would be better served if one is in a position to identify the kind of regulation that currently applies to the profession of football agents.

It has been stated in previous posts that all the latest developments regarding Rangers FC, have the potential of giving rise to different sports law issues. In the last few days, there has been a rather complicated discussion as to whether Rangers FC could potentially play in Europe, next season, either with their current status or under a new status.

The Premier League invited individual broadcasters, recently, to submit their bids for winning the exclusive rights to Premiership football. Although there is a financial crisis everywhere and the UK is now going through a second recession, it is a fact that Premiership football remains extremely popular with finances that cannot be ignored. Evidence demonstrates that the current three-year deal cost BSkyB £1.78 billion in 2010!

There has been a lot of discussion regarding the status of Rangers FC's players in the event of the club's liquidation. At a first glance, the situation may appear straightforward, but further analysis may indicate exactly the opposite. Again, we may appear to have a collision between contractual/employment principles and those of self regulation that derive from the application of the sporting rules currently in place.

When I first started my blog a few days ago, I made a promise to my readers that I would remain independent towards analysing several sports law issues. One of them is the well-publicised matter of Rangers FC. The latest developments are of interest to many observers, particularly to football fans in Scotland. For the sports lawyer, this case presents a unique challenge. It is my intention, in the next few weeks, to analyse, extensively, such challenge in a series of different posts.

Some of you may think that Greek football doesn't really count for much. Off the pitch, you would be surprised.  It is my intention to analyse, extensively, the regulatory framework of the Hellenic Football Federation and the organisation of the Greek Super League, who is responsible for the top flight of football in Greece. Such analysis may pose no real surprises, as rules are in existence for the proper and efficient running of the sport. What is of surprise and at the same time, of enormous concern, is how Greek football authorities have an amazing ability to manipulate rules and regulations and apply them in a way that the average nous cannot possibly comprehend.