5 1 January 2007

News:

The World Association of Newspapers (WAN) and the UK's Newspaper Publishers' Association have challenged restrictions placed on the media under accreditation terms and conditions for the Cricket World Cup and Rugby World Cup, both of which take place this year.

Dutch Eredivisie club, Feyenoord, are appealing UEFA's decision to ban them from this season's UEFA Cup, on the grounds that they are not responsible for the behaviour of their supporters.

Lucrative business opportunities are available between gambling operators and sports clubs and associations, however their relationships have recently come under intense scrutiny.

Features:

At the moment, the opening ceremony of the London Olympics may seem a long way off, and currently many people seem more concerned about the prospect of 'spiralling costs' than they are about British achievement at the Games or the legacy that the Games could leave for the country. One thing of which we can be certain is that come July 2012, as fireworks explode over Stratford, it's highly unlikely anyone will be talking about funding. Representatives from the various nations will lead out their teams, and fans from all over the world, including I'm sure, many readers of this journal, will await the start of the real competition.

As 2006 drew to a close, we asked some of the members of our editorial board what they felt would be the key issues for 2007. In this article, they set out their views.

Following complaints by French clubs to the European Commission, the French government has changed its laws, allowing sports clubs to raise capital by listing on the stock exchange. Sophie Dion-Loye, a senior associate with Gide Loyrette Nouel, Paris, and a director of the diploma of sports law at the University of Paris I, examines why the change was necessary and the effect that it could have, especially on football.

Cricket Australia threatened to lock media organisations out of the fourth Ashes Test due to rebroadcasting of moving images from previous Tests over the internet. Claude Harran, a solicitor with Dibbs Abbott Stillman Lawyers, Melbourne, examines how the case highlights that a line needs to be drawn between the ability of sporting organisations to limit coverage of an event, and the right of news organisations to report on them.

With the government committed to investing in sport ahead of the London 2012 Olympic Games, the Chancellor of the Exchequer is preparing to issue his final Budget statement. Richard Baldwin, an independent tax consultant and honorary member of the Central Council of Physical Recreation, challenges the Chancellor to make subtle changes in taxation which could benefit sporting organisations and aspiring athletes.

The World Anti-Doping Authority has published a draft revision of its WADA code, which recommends changing rules relating to 'strict liability' and in cases of 'nonanalytical findings'. While the proposed changes are to be broadly welcomed, Dr. Gregory Ioannidis, lecturer in sports law at the University of Buckingham, argues that significant gaps remain in their potential application.

In the November 2006 issue of World Sports Law Report, Ian Smith of the Professional Cricketers' Association argued that recreational drugs, such as cannabis, cocaine and ecstasy, should not be on the World Anti Doping Authority (WADA) list of prohibited substances in sport. Here, I take a different point of view and put forward some arguments for their continued inclusion.