4 3 March 2006

News:

The World Federation of the Sporting Goods Industry (WFSGI) has asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to set up a homologation committee to approve Olympic kits 18 months in advance of an Olympic Games. It wants the IOC to remove confusion about what manufacturers can and cannot do.

Football Association subsidiary Wembley National Stadium Limited (WNSL) and Multiplex will attempt to resolve their differences before September, when the construction contractor is due to hand the 90,000-seat venue back to WNSL. If the two parties do not agree, third party adjudication or arbitration will be sought and if that fails, legal action will be taken. WNSL has yet to fine Multiplex, despite the construction company missing the latest 31 March deadline for the handover of the stadium. It said it is entitled to fine Multiplex £980,000 per week from 31 January, under the terms of an extension of the original 2005 deadline.

Royal Charleroi's challenge to FIFA's Regulations could result in the G-14 being included in negotiations with football's governing bodies for the first time, the G-14 believes.

Features:

Measures outlined in Gordon Brown's tenth budget speech should benefit elite sporting organisations, such as the bodies involved in organising the London 2012 Olympic Games. However, they could have an adverse effect on grassroots organisations, explains Richard Baldwin, a tax consultant and individual member of the CCPR.

Ticketing provides a stable form of revenue for any major sporting event. The implementation of a streamlined system can make the difference between an event's success or failure. Neil Baylis and Edward Parkin of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart Nicholson Graham LLP examine the challenges involved for event organisers.

The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) has overseen the development of sporting excellence for disabled athletes for nearly twenty years. Sarah Herbert, a solicitor at athletes1 Legal, examines the IPC regulations on athlete classification and anti-doping, and how they were successfully applied at the recent Torino 2006 Paralympic Winter Games.

China is often viewed as a market ripe for investment, however concerns regarding intellectual property protection have often been raised by companies looking to operate there. Luke Minford, an Executive based in Rouse & Co. International's Beijing office, assesses the state of IP protection in China and highlights the issues that companies should consider.

For sports clubs to secure a conviction against the trading of alleged counterfeit goods, it must be proven that the trade mark use can jeopardise the guarantee of origin of the mark in question. Kathleen Harris and Matt McKenzie of Reynolds Porter Chamberlain examine a recent Scottish criminal case which clarifies the position for sports clubs to succeed in protecting their trade marks.

The joint guidance on advertising for overseas remote gaming sites came as a shock to many within the industry, as rather than entrenching the current position, it set out a new set of rules. Julian Harris, partner at Harris Hagan, examines the implications that the guidance could have.