This article is written by Nehal Kharyal, from the Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies (VIPS). This is an exhaustive article that describes the legal remedies available to sportspersons during a game.
Table of Contents
Introduction
Several sports pose a danger to players. A player who suffers a sports-related injury may recover its medical expenses and other losses if the injury caused to the player is by the negligence of another party. However, injuries and damages which are caused intentionally are also recoverable. To decide the damages, the court generally decides the suit after involving injuries caused to athletes, spectators and other parties involved in the sports according to the basic tort laws. In this, if a party owes a duty of care to another party and then that duty is breached, the party owing such duty will be liable for the injury caused to another party to whom the duty is owed which resulted from the breach. But it must be noted that the level of the care must be dependent upon the situation like dangerous situations require a high degree of care and less dangerous situations require a less degree of care. Athletes may recover from their injuries caused by another party’s negligence or intentional acts. The defendants in these kinds of cases may possess any number of defences. In these types of cases, one of the most successful defences taken by the defendants is that the party involved in the game already assumed the risk of getting injured by playing in or watching the event.
Types of sports injuries
Approximately three million people every year suffer sports-related injuries and receive treatment in emergency wards of the hospitals. It is the application of low energy by sports persons which results in the degradation of techniques, game form, reduces reaction or reflex time, and also leads to losing muscle joint stability which in turn allows more injuries to occur Football is the only sport that has a higher rate of injury with greater than 12 times the number of injuries seen in the next most common sport. There are several sports injuries and some of them are-
- Hip flexor strain– These muscles are found on the upper front side of our thigh. The main function of these muscles is to lift the knee towards our trunk, as well as to assist moving of our leg. It can be weak usually in an individual who sits for very long at work or who has a poor sitting posture. For instance, hip flexor strains can be suffered by bicyclists, and athletes who jump or run and their activities involve high knee kicks. It is also commonly faced by soccer players and martial artists, who do forceful kicking activities and continuous practices.
- Concussion– This type of injury can be caused when there is a blow to the head which can cause the brain to a jar or shake. A concussion is one of the major kinds of injury which must not be taken lightly. Athletes diagnosed with this kind of injury should never return to the sport without being medically fit or approved by a healthcare professional.
- Groin pull– The groin muscles help us to pull legs together. These muscles are often injured when there is a quick side-to-side movement and a lack of flexibility. Athletes may come to know about this problem when he/she finds difficulty with lateral movements or getting in and out of cars and also feels tenderness or bruising in the groin or the inner thigh.
- Shin splints– In this type of injury, the athletes might get pain in their lower leg bone or the tibia. This injury is commonly found in athletes who are runners or in participants who participate in activities with a great deal of running, such as soccer.
- Sciatica– This type of injury can be seen in an athlete who is usually in a flexed forward posture like cyclists or athletes who perform a great deal of trunk rotation in the swings sports, like golf and tennis. In this injury, back pain usually moves down to the back of the leg or even to the feet. Athletes who pain sketch for more than two weeks, then he/she must seek the advice of a medical professional, such as a physical therapist.
- Shoulder injury– This type of injury mainly covers dislocation, misalignment, strains on muscles, and sprains of ligaments. The shoulder is considered to be one of the weakest joints of the body, which is subjected to excessive and inordinate force in the course of such athletic activities.
- Patellofemoral syndrome– The majority of the sports injuries involve the lower body, with regarding this one of the most common injuries is a knee injury. It is a type of injury that is usually caused by a slip or a fall onto the knees, swelling of the knee joint, or muscle imbalance.
Liability for injuries of sportsmen
There has been an increase in the number of violent acts that occur during competitive sports events; this also includes professional sports events and these are being addressed as a law of torts. Using the lawsuits, the plaintiff basically seeks compensation for the injuries which he/she has sustained by the act or the conduct of the defendants. The legal framework for which recovery is based is on establishing that the defendant owns a duty of care to the plaintiff and that duty was breached due to which the victim has sustained serious injuries and he/she needs to be compensated for the same. There are mainly three main branches under which law is addressed in the context of sports-based injuries and those are-
- Unintentional torts– The basic meaning of negligence is, the failure to exercise the standard of care which a reasonable man should be able to, by the law. Under this, the standard of care refers to what a reasonable competitor would do in place of the defendant, which is full in the spirit of the game and without vengeance.
Caldwell vs. Maguire: In this case, the claimant and the defendants were professional jockeys. During a race, the defendant riding a horse had caused severe injuries to the claimant leading him to raise an action for damages. But in this, the claimant’s case was dismissed as it was stated that horse racing is a competitive sport and the risk of the injury is high. So in this, it was considered that the defendant’s momentary lapse of judgment could not be taken as negligence because there was an open opportunity to cause such injuries and also choices available to prevent the same and avoid all the possible risks.
- Intentional torts– When a person kicks a punch swung to another person that may result in an assault. If so happens then it doesn’t matter that an individual didn’t mean to cause the exact damages that ensued or that the intended target was actually for another person. It is the intent to use force or final contact that matters. Assault is distinguished by negligence as in assault, the perpetrator must be shown to have committed the violent act whereas in negligence there is an unintentional tort.
Nabozny vs. Barnhill: In this case, the plaintiff was a soccer goalie, he was kicked on his face by another player during an amateur soccer match. However, in this, the court said that to allow the plaintiff goalie to sue another player for negligence under the given circumstances would have a drastic effect on other fellow soccer players. But the court had held that this same action if had been intentional, pre-arranged and consciously planned to harm others then that particular individual would be liable in tort.
- Recklessness– In this, a person is considered to be reckless when he or she knew that their conduct would likely cause a serious injury to another but the person was nonetheless indifferent to that risk and carried out that conduct anyway. The major difference lies between negligence and reckless conduct is the degree of foreseeability of harm, while recklessness differs from intentional wrongdoing such as assault by way of issue of intent.
Wooldridge vs. Sumner– In this case, the plaintiff named Mr. Wooldridge, was a photographer at a horse race. He was injured by a horse belonging to the defendant named Sumner, who was also a rider in a competition. Sumner was a skilled and experienced horseman. However, in this, the Court of appeal held that the defendant owed no duty of care to Wooldridge.
Prevention of the most common sports injuries
Injuries like sprains and strains are the most common injuries which are suffered by almost every athlete. These types of injuries usually occur when athletes put too much pressure on their muscle or ligament and have caused it to stretch too far which is out of its normal range, which results in sprain, strain, or tears. Our body is mainly made to stretch and move in all kinds of directions but pushing it beyond its limit causes or can cause a wide range of painful reactions leaving it with a sore feeling, hurt, or otherwise unable to return to action. Now let’s see some of the ways to prevent common sports injuries.
- Get warmed up– It is always advisable to get warmed up with some basic exercise before you jump into any kind of sport. Jumping straight into any kind of sport like cricket, hockey, football, etc without getting warmed up exercise likely to cause many problems. Dragging your body to its limits without a proper warm-up exercise is a way to injure yourself. So it is always advisable to do basic warm-up exercises before you start pushing yourself.
- Stretching– Stretching our muscles regularly before beginning any physical activity, makes our body prepared for the stress that we are about to put our body through. It is always said that the more flexible our muscles are, the fewer chances they have of stretching out of their comfort zones.
- Exercise more often– If we have not played any of the sports activities for more than one year, jumping straight into the action without building up to game day is not a good idea. The less we exercise, chances are high that we will get hurt. So it is highly recommended, we must try to go for a quick jog, or we can also go to the gym as often as possible to keep ourselves in shape for sports activities.
Duty of a referee to take reasonable care
In the case of Benjamin Roger Smoldon v. Thomas Whitworth and Michael Nolan, the referee was supervising a game of rugby and he was found to be liable after a player was left injured when a scrum had collapsed dangerously. During the game, a scrum had collapsed at least 12 times, but no foul play was given by the referee. So, in this, the court held that the referee was liable for acting negligently in a match. The court mentioned that in fast-moving games referees could not reasonably be expected to avoid errors of judgment or lapses. The court in its decision also stated that a referee owes a duty of care and the standard of care which is what is reasonable in all the circumstances.
The reasonable standard to be maintained
In the case of Paul Elliot v. Dean Saunders & Liverpool FC, Elliot sued Saunders and Liverpool FC for causing a knee injury which led to an end of his football career. In this case, Elliot first tries to bring a case for battery against Liverpool FC but it was later found that Liverpool FC’s insurance would not suffice such a claim. So, it would not be in the best interests of Elliot to restrict the number of defendants. Therefore, he focused on a negligence claim instead. Elliot tried to establish the duty of care and its breach that Saunders owed to him, based on the nature of the game and tackle. In this case, video evidence was also considered to be important among all the other evidence submitted in the court. After going through the video and other evidence, the court favored the evidence provided by the officials in which Saunders was attempting to “play the ball” and had not acted recklessly. Liverpool FC was held not to be vicariously liable.
So in this case, it was explained that a case of negligence will fail if the pursuer is unable to prove anything besides an error of judgment. It must be proven that a defender has acted recklessly with a lack of care to breach his duty to exercise reasonable care in all the situations.
Duty of care
The Duty of Care is a principle that was established in one of the famous cases of Donoghue v. Stevenson, 1932. Participation in any of the sports games is an inherently risky business that may cause many injuries and even death. However, if a sports manager has carried out its duty of care then there is no redress for the participants if they are injured in the pursuit of normal sports activity. An action in a court can only be taken when a breach of the duty of care is proved and it must be the case that shows that such a breach occurs when something has been missed and overlooked. There are several provisions which must be kept in mind by the administrators to fulfil the duty of care and some of them are:
- Sports officials, as well as coaches, should be properly accredited.
- Sports facilities should be checked for safety, and hazards must be removed, before sports activity.
- Conditions of implements must be good, which will be used in the pursuit of sport.
- Injured people must withdraw participation as soon as injury comes to light.
Breach of duty
In the court of law, the breach of duty now occurred in a much more difficult proposition. The court will now apply the principle termed as a ‘Test Of Reasonableness’. The mentioned principle involves very careful consideration of what is reasonable to expect, whether a person to have done or not done in such circumstances.
Vicarious liability and other likely damages
In the case of Ben Collett v. Gary Smith & Middlesborough FC (2008), an 18 years old Collett was playing a match for Manchester United against Middlesbrough FC. During the game, he had faced the first defendant’s tackle, which was so high and over the ball that as the result of which Collet had ended up fracturing his tibia and fibula of his right leg. Collet, to cover the loss and the damage caused by the negligence of Smithfield filed a suit for injury. In this particular case, Collet had filed a suit for claiming the future loss of earnings as he would not be able to pursue a successful career as a professional footballer and after that as a football manager or a coach. Middlesbrough FC admitted liability and the court awarded £4.3 million as the final settlement.
Quantum of damage
Sports injuries consist of both direct as well as indirect costs. Direct costs are those costs that, for being calculated, have to consider the cost of healthcare resources used to prevent, detect, and treat injury. It is essentially required for research, about how healthcare is utilised and what other expenses eventuate and go along with it. On the other hand, indirect costs may be taken into account only when an injury prevents an individual from returning to work and it hampers the economic benefits to themselves and others.
Conclusion
The justice delivery system in some countries has failed to provide quick justice to the people who belong to the sports fraternity as the level of carelessness and motive is difficult to be proven. However, if the plaintiff can be successful in proving the recklessness then the plaintiff may recover punitive damages for the appalling conduct of the defendant in addition to the general meetings. At present there is a lack of law and sportsmanship will only survive if the law is enforced. The concept of tort along with the legislations on sports together will help the judiciary in determining the wrong and day to day happenings in the field of sports in an effective manner.
References
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