2 3 March 2004

News:

Sports book operators are concerned that online revenues will be hit by the TV racing black out following the failure of the talks between the attheraces racing channel and the UK racing industry.

MP’s are threatening to set up a parliamentary select committee inquiry into the role of agents in football. Labour MP Keith Vaz told The Sunday Times, “There is a desire to see much greater transparency in the whole process”, while former sports minister Kate Hoey said, “the FA should be governing football and ensuring it is properly regulated The reality is that the FA are in hock to the Premier League”.

The anti-doping regime in tennis will be ‘revolutionised’ once the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) is given a right of appeal against decisions of the professional tennis organisations anti-doping tribunals.

Features:

Jonathan Taylor, legal advisor on anti-doping matters to the International Tennis Federation, and draftsman of the 2004 Tennis Anti-Doping Programme applicable to all tennis events sanctioned by the ITF, ATP and WTA, explains why those writing off the strict liability rule for anti-doping in tennis after the Rusedski case are very much mistaken.

Televising of horse racing is fundamental to the success of the sport. This article looks at the collapse of the attheraces deal and the prospects for a revised agreement.

SMS marketing and services, with over 20 billion text messages sent in the UK last year, has become a substantial and growing business sector. This article looks at recent developments in the regulation of the SMS market.

In a further attempt to defeat illegal bookmakers, the Hong Kong Jockey Club can now take bets on soccer matches. But is protecting the incumbent monopolist the right approach? This article suggests that the future lies in an open but regulated market as a better way of dealing with the problem of illegal gambling.

Exeter City of the Conference is the first football club to go into administration since the Enterprise Act came into force In November 2003 the Inland Revenue challenged Exeter’s Creditors Voluntary Arrangement (CVA), saying it was unfairly prejudiced by the CVA because of its treatment of clubs and players as preferred creditors. This article looks at the background and prospects of the Football Creditor rule