More than 5.8 million people attended the last football and rugby World Cups combined. The spectacle remains as compelling as ever, with packed stadiums, global television audiences and athletes competing on the biggest stage. Yet behind the commercial success of these tournaments, a more difficult conversation is unfolding.
Across many jurisdictions, courts are increasingly being asked to consider whether governing bodies of sports owe a duty of care to participants and, if so, whether they did enough to protect them from the long-term consequences of repeated head impacts. What began as a player welfare issue is gradually evolving into a broader debate about liability, governance and risk assessment. For international sports federations and their insurers, the questions being raised are no longer confined to any single country.
The UK has become one of the focal points of that debate. Rugby authorities have been defending litigation brought by former players for several years, while football faces separate claims relating to any long-term impact of heading the ball. In the football proceedings, former players allege that repeated heading during their careers contributed to neurological injury later in life and that the sport's governing bodies failed to take adequate steps to protect them from those risks.
Author:
Philip Tracey, Partner
philip.tracey@weightmans.com