At the start of this year, following his appointment as Chair of the UK’s Department for Culture, Media, and Sport (“DCMS”), Damian Green MP put sports governance firmly on the agenda. This commitment came after the publication of the Whyte Review in June 2022 (the “Review“), which was an independent report into allegations of mistreatment … Continue Reading
On 3 September 2021, The FA announced that Marc Bola (“the Player”), of Middlesbrough FC, had been charged with misconduct for an alleged Aggravated Breach of the FA Rules, 2021/2022 (“the 2022 Rules”), rules E3.1 and E3.2 (“the Charge”). The Charge related to a Tweet the Player posted from his Twitter account on 14 April … 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
Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners has purchased a 14.3% stake in the Six Nations rugby tournament, putting pen to paper on a deal, which will see CVC pay approximately £365 million over five-years. The deal, subject to regulatory approval, sees CVC target the tournament’s commercial rights. In return, the governing bodies of England, Scotland, … Continue Reading
Football’s handball law has been under scrutiny from pundits, players and fans alike for some years now. Last year, Sports Shorts assessed the controversy of the new handball law, which has continued to depend on interpretation with little uniformity in its application across world football.… Continue Reading
Back in June, Sport Shorts considered the premature conclusion of the Premier 15s season, which was rendered null and void as a result of the Covid-19 pandemic. Following a near seven month period without any rugby for the elite of the women’s game, the newly branded 2020/21 Allianz Premier 15s campaign got underway on 10 … Continue Reading
The Premier League resumed on 12 September 2020 and initially plans had been in place for an October return for fans to be allowed in stadia, with home fans only. Yesterday, following an announcement from the government of a spike in coronavirus cases in the UK, those plans were put on hold indefinitely. Back in … Continue Reading
On July 18, the English Football Association (the “FA”) announced plans for a ‘phased return’ to the pitch. For our American readers, the FA (formed in 1863) is the oldest football association in the world. It is responsible for overseeing all aspects of the amateur and professional game in its territory, which includes England and … 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
Over the course of the last two months professional football across Europe has ground to a halt. In an attempt to lend some shape and certainty to the European football landscape, UEFA announced in April that all its European members had until 25 May to make a decision about their respective leagues. Some leagues have … Continue Reading
Last Friday was International Women’s Day – a day where women are celebrated in countries around the world. In March alone, UK sportswomen have more than earned recognition for their achievements. Laura Muir retained her European 1,500m and 3,000m titles, beating the 31-year-old British indoor mile record by 5 seconds at the European Indoor Championships, … Continue Reading
When Courtney Lawes charged down that box kick in the dying minutes of the England v New Zealand game last Autumn, every English fan thought their team had snatched a rare victory against the All Blacks. The charge down set up a mesmerising side-step and thrilling try from an unlikely source in flanker Sam Underhill. … Continue Reading
On Thursday 8 June 2017 the British people will go to the polls to determine who will lead their country for the next four years and who will (almost definitely) oversee the nation’s exit from the European Union. It’s been almost a year since Britain voted for Brexit (to be precise, on Thursday, it will … Continue Reading
Since we launched in August this year Sports Shorts has posted 86 blogs covering a multitude of topics including: a look at new rules concerning Premier League shirt sponsorship; a review of UK Sport and Sport England’s ‘Code for Sports Governance’ consideration of England Rugby’s training camps; an analysis of the FIFA Poppy Dispute (twice); … Continue Reading
On the evening of 29 November 2016 at least one national newspaper was reporting that UK Sport, the body responsible for funding elite sport in the UK, had made a ‘last-ditch funding plea to Government’ against ‘severe cuts’. Against a background of unprecedented sporting success in Rio this summer which led to an outburst of … Continue Reading
On Monday, Sports Shorts commented on the launch, by UK Sport and Sport England, of a new Code for Sports Governance (“Code”). As we noted in Monday’s post, much of the initial press coverage focused predominantly on the Code’s gender diversity provision (see, for example, here, here, and here), with the BBC even labelling it … Continue Reading
Today, 31 October 2016, UK Sport and Sport England launched their eagerly anticipated ‘A Code for Sports Governance’ (Code). In short, the sport funding bodies have picked Halloween to set out their plan to ensure that, in future, there are no skeletons in the cupboards of English sport governing bodies (sorry). The Code (available here), … Continue Reading
