4 11 November 2006

News:

Senior sports lawyers cautiously welcomed the Football Association (FA) Council's 27 October decision to pass 16 proposals drawn up from recommendations made by Lord Burns in his FA Structural Review, which was tasked with streamlining the FA's decision making process.

International investment in UK football has led the dynamics of ownership to change rapidly. World Sports Law Report is organising a Clubs & Players: Morning Briefing on 5 December, at the offices of Deloitte in London, which will examine if current ownership regulations are adequate for protecting clubs and players from exploitation.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) are understood to be satisfied that the London 2012 Olympic Bid followed the normal bidding process and answered all questions in the bid document.

Features:

First class cricket in England and Wales has had four positive anti-doping tests in the last decade. All four were for "recreational" drugs - cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy. Not one of the players involved was trying to gain a competitive advantage in his cricket. Not one was cheating anybody except, perhaps, himself. All were banned from cricket for periods of time that, in one case at least, brought an end to their playing days. One was an amateur who had devoted 15 selfless years to Scottish cricket at great personal sacrifice. In all cases, they were subject to disciplinary proceedings because cricket had opted to use the World Anti Doping Authority (WADA) list of prohibited substances as the basis for its anti-doping regime. Why were these drugs on the list at all?

Commonwealth 400m champion, Christine Ohuruogu, faces a 12 month ban for missing three out-ofcompetition doping tests, and a lifetime ban from Olympic events under British Olympic Association rules. Ian Blackshaw, an international sports lawyer and a member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, argues that such tough sanctions are necessary to win the 'war on doping'.

Jean-Marie Dedecker, a member of the Belgian Senate, discovered 412 cases of human trafficking connected to Belgian football. Dimitri Dedecker, an Advocaat with Agius Advocaten B.V.B.A., explains how Belgian work permit regulations allowed this practice to develop and highlights how Belgium still remains an open doorway to non-EU players.

Justin Gatlin faced the prospect of a lifetime ban from athletics after he was found to have committed a second anti-doping rule violation. However, he has agreed to provide information to the US Anti Doping Agency, which in return, has agreed that his maximum period of suspension would be eight years. Lawyers are now expected to argue for a significant reduction in his ban when he sits before the American Arbitration Association panel early next year. Mike Morgan, a solicitor with Hammonds, argues that a balance is needed between sanctioning athletes and motivating them to reveal further information.

As well as attracting attention from the Police and the Serious Fraud Office, evidence from the BBC's Panorama investigation into 'bungs' within football and the results of the Lord Stevens enquiry are likely to attract the attention of Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs, argues Jason Collins, a partner in the tax litigation and regulatory team at McGrigors. Collins examines potential tax consequences resulting from a 'bung' and the effect that future regulation, such as the Corruption Bill, could have on the alleged practice of paying 'bungs'.

Newcastle United failed in an appeal to the VAT Tribunal against Her Majesty's Revenue & Customs' (HMRC) decision that the club was not entitled to recover VAT on fees paid to player agents. Amy Boyles and Aredhel Darnley of Hammonds highlight how, following this decision, HMRC could seek to claw back money from clubs that have previously recovered VAT on fees paid to agents.