Original article published 30 August 2024 on our French sister blog La Revue. On your marks, get set, go! At the Paralympic Games, athletes were previously required to cover their Olympic rings tattoos or face disqualification. The International Paralympic Committee has decided to lift this ban for the Paris 2024 Games. In this blog we present … Continue Reading
As the Summer 2024 Olympics in Paris commences, the United States Olympic & Paralympics Committee (USOPC) is vigilant against unauthorized use of its trademarks. The USOPC filed a lawsuit against a U.S. beverage company, alleging the use of Olympic-related terms like “OLYMPIC” and “TEAM USA” without permission. These trademarks are vital for the USOPC’s funding … Continue Reading
As the attention of the sporting world is poised to focus on the next edition of the Olympic Games in Paris, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has taken the opportunity to announce its partnership with the National Olympic Committee (NOC) of Saudi Arabia to host the inaugural Olympic Esports Games 2025 in the Kingdom of … Continue Reading
Having recently examined some of the legal issues that have overshadowed the lead-up to the 2024 Paris Olympics and Paralympics, in this article I will consider what could keep contentious/regulatory lawyers (and journalists) busy once the Games formally begin on 26 July 2024. With ten days still to go before the Opening Ceremony, it is … Continue Reading
The cloud of Covid-19 (which loomed so large over Tokyo 2020 and Beijing 2022) has thankfully dissipated, but the lead up to the 2024 Olympiad in Paris (the “Paris Games”) has nevertheless been punctuated by logistical and legal challenges. Hosting the world’s largest multi-sport international event – attended by thousands of participants, support personnel, officials, … Continue Reading
For the first time in 128 years, cricket returns to the Olympics when it will feature at the Los Angeles 2028 Olympic Games (“LA28“). It has been a long leave of absence for the sport, which last featured at the 1900 Olympics in Paris, when Great Britain secured the gold medal against the host nation … Continue Reading
A recent award handed down by the Court of Arbitration for Sport has found in favour of World Athletics in its dispute with the US Paralympian 400m sprinter, Blake Leeper, concerning the athlete’s eligibility to run against able-bodied athletes in World Athletics Series competitions as well as next year’s Tokyo Olympics.… Continue Reading
New records Issues surrounding athletics footwear returned to the spotlight this month as two athletes wearing new models of Nike running spikes ran in world record times at an event in Valencia, Spain. Uganda’s Joshua Cheptegei and Ethiopia’s Letsenbet Gidey broke the men’s 10,000 metre and women’s 5,000 metre world records respectively wearing Nike’s ZoomX … Continue Reading
In August this year, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) handed down its decision in the dispute between the International Surfing Association (ISA) and the International Canoe Federation (ICF) regarding the governance of Stand-Up Paddleboarding (SUP). Both international sports federations sought control over the increasingly popular sport at the world and Olympic level. In … Continue Reading
Unlike the men’s competition, which is set to restart in August following a COVID-19 enforced suspension, the top tier of English women’s rugby, the Tyrells Premier 15s (“Premier 15s”), was declared null and void back in March. Regulation 22.9 of the Rugby Football Union (“RFU”) Regulations brought the season to a premature end: “The Tyrrells … Continue Reading
The global COVID-19 pandemic has affected many areas of the sporting world, resulting in cancellations and postponements across the globe. The Olympic and Paralympic Games (together, the “Games”) are just two of many high-profile events that have been affected by the pandemic. The Games were due to take place in Tokyo, Japan between July and … Continue Reading
It has been reported that the European Commission met with officials from the International Olympic Committee (IOC) in November to discuss rules that restrict athletes’ marketing activities during a ‘blackout’ period around the Olympic Games. The meeting follows a recent ruling in Germany, which found that certain IOC restrictions breached antitrust rules and unlawfully limited … Continue Reading
A recent announcement by the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) is a sign of the ever-increasing popularity of table tennis globally and in the United States, and reminds us of the power of sports to bring people together. In addition to being an Olympic sport, table tennis holds an annual World Table Tennis Championship, with individual … Continue Reading
On 15 January 2019, the Fédération Internationale de Natation (“FINA”), the gatekeeper for access to the Olympic Games and World Championships, announced that swimmers are now free to participate in race meetings that are organised by independent organisers (which includes those that are neither related to FINA or members of FINA) and will not be … Continue Reading
At the beginning of the year, Sports Shorts covered the developments between North Korea and South Korea as the countries negotiated North Korea’s participation in the PyeongChang WinterOlympics. The 2018 Winter Olympics was a success; to summarise: The athletes from North and South Korea marched together under the Korean unification flag during the opening ceremony; … Continue Reading
Traditionally during the British summer months, sports other than football get to dominate the headlines through the game’s summer break. Despite recent events in Russia lengthening last year’s football season, this weekend saw a number of non-football related events take the sporting headlines: England won a thrilling test match in the first of five this … Continue Reading
Last month the England netball team won gold in a dramatic win against Australia in the Commonwealth Games. Photographs of the winning team decorated the front pages and England Netball coach Tracey Neville was almost more talked about than her famous ex-footballer siblings. Despite this recognition and its popularity at a grassroots level, netball is … Continue Reading
In the context of sports, should it be possible to attain a “perfect” score? Put differently, is a judge or panel of judges ever justified in awarding the maximum score possible? Such questions are relevant to a great many sports: gymnastics, diving, and ice skating, to name just a few. With this in mind, Sports … Continue Reading
Most professional sports have players’ unions that are charged with representing the interests of the people who play the sport at the highest level. Until recently this was not the case for individuals who play that ever-popular Olympic sport, beach volleyball, but now almost 100 professional beach volleyball players have united to form the International … Continue Reading
The XXIII Winter Olympics in PyeongChang are now well underway in what are reported to be some of the coldest and most treacherous conditions yet for a Games to be held in. Great Britain’s darling of short track speed skating and current World Champion, Elise Christie, agonisingly crashed out of the 500m final today meaning … Continue Reading
Despite increased tension and growing hostility in the region, an agreement has been reached in respect of North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, South Korea. On 9 January, the two countries met in their first high-level meeting in over two years to discuss North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympics. South Korea … Continue Reading
With the 1,000 day countdown to the 2020 Olympic Games now in full swing, it has been reported that the Tokyo Organising Committee of the Olympic and Paralympic Games is actively monitoring social media trends with a view to combating the spread of “fake news”. The term “fake news” has become something of a phenomenon … Continue Reading
The Rule 40 debate (covered by Sports Shorts last year) has resurfaced in recent weeks, this time in the context of the upcoming South East Asia Games (“SEA Games”), which will be taking place in Kuala Lumpur later this month. This time, the subject is Singaporean marathon runner Soh Rui Yong who has been issued … Continue Reading
In the past week, two high-profile, long-term commercial relationships have come to an end. First came the announcement that the International Olympic Committee (“IOC”) and McDonald’s had mutually agreed to end their worldwide partnership with immediate effect, three years before it was due to expire (the commercial background to the break-up, and any financial terms … Continue Reading
