After years in the making, the Online Safety Act (the “OSA”) has come into force after receiving Royal Assent on 26 October 2023 (as discussed in our blog here). Amidst the proliferation of social media use, there has been a worrying increase in the levels of abuse that players, athletes, officials, managers, coaches and other … Continue Reading
In competitive sport, small margins make the difference between winning and losing. It is therefore no surprise that elite sport is experiencing transformational change due to the increasing use of performance improvement technology. We have recently advised Formula 1 and Premier League football teams on their use of performance improvement technology solutions including in:… Continue Reading
Sports as an industry has realised the potential that cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies can bring to further monetise fan engagement, attract sponsors and engage a global market in ways that were unimaginable decades ago. Passionate fans, each a citizen of digital technology, consume sports and related content beyond the actual duration of a match. Teams, … 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
Last week, the Champions for Earth movement sent an open letter co-signed by hundreds of GB Olympians and Paralympians to the Prime Minister urging a ‘Green approach’ to recovery from the pandemic. The letter highlights the role that sport can play in influencing global issues: “We can sit timidly in the pack, pretending that we … Continue Reading
The ban on mass gatherings in order to combat the spread of COVID-19 resulted in the cancellation or postponement of sporting fixtures and live events globally. This includes the English Premier League that had to postpone all fixtures following the lockdown. On 10 May 2020, Boris Johnson announced that, as part of the UK government’s … Continue Reading
At the last race weekend in Bahrain, Charles Leclerc became the second-youngest pole-sitter in Formula 1 history in just his second race with Ferrari. A few days’ prior in London, another rookie (at least, in his current role) was delivering what could be an historical change in the future of the sport: Ross Brawn’s vision … Continue Reading
Football and blockchain: It may not be the most obvious of pairings, but stakeholders in the football world are beginning to dip their toes in the water, when it comes to using blockchain technology in their commercial operations. Readers of Sports Shorts may have fond memories of schooldays spent collecting trading cards or stickers depicting … Continue Reading
When French sixth-tier side Avant Garde Caennaise (“AG Caen”) were founded in 1902, even the most forward-thinking supporters could not have imagined that the club would become the pioneers that they are today. The Project Two thousand fans currently manage the team, making decisions such as the team’s line up and substitutions, via a third … Continue Reading
On Sunday the International Association of Athletics Federations (IAAF) released 38 reports as part of the largest ever biomechanics study in athletics. For those who haven’t heard of this term before, biomechanics is essentially ‘the physics of sports’. It is the science of analysing human movement and examples include analysing how a swimmer’s hand positioning … Continue Reading
‘Super Saturday’ at the Winter Olympics in PyeongChang saw the Great Britain team win 3 medals, including a second Gold for Lizzy Yarnold, taking their overall total so far to 4. This equals the biggest ever GB medal haul at the Winter Games and leaves them one short of the medal target set by UK … Continue Reading
