Sports Law

Earlier this week a new deal worth £225 million between the Rugby Football Union (RFU) and Premiership Rugby was announced, but where does that leave Championship rugby with play-off rugby only guaranteed until the end of this season? The thrilling two-legged RFU Championship final from last season saw Bristol seal their return to the Aviva […]

After being eliminated from both the Champions League and the Europa League, plus their recent failure to beat West Ham, Manchester United are on the cusp of failing to qualify for the Champions League after United’s destiny was taken out of their own hands. Louis van Gaal could yet face the humiliation of missing out […]

At the top end of football and rugby, salaries are on the climb due to lucrative TV deals and profitable club sponsorshipIn fact, where fast cars, flashy lifestyles and eye watering salaries appear the norm, it may come as surprise to some that not all is as it seems in the world of sport. Recent […]

Last week Leeds United announced a ‘significant’ improvement in its finances, despite a fall in turnover to £24.4m, down from £25.3m. The overall losses at the Whites were reduced significantly from £22.9m in its 2014 financial year to £2m. The financial improvements stemmed from £9.8m generated by player transfers, including the £11m fee paid by […]

Adidas has terminated its boot contract with Adam Johnson. The German sportswear manufacturer reacted quickly after the Sunderland midfielder pleaded guilty to one count of sexual activity with a child and one of grooming in an ongoing case at Bradford crown court. The Black Cats winger admitted he kissed a 15-year-old girl after grooming her over the […]

A recent post match interview saw West Indian cricketer star Chris Gayle make sexist comments to Mel McLaughlin, a Network Ten sports reporter. After his impressive performance in the game, Gayle was asked about his big-hitting style to which he replied “To see your eyes for the first time is nice. Hopefully we can have […]

England’s early World Cup exit comes at a difficult time for English rugby union. An increasing number of players are being lured away to France’s Top 14 league, where the salary cap is significantly higher than that of the Premiership rugby clubs’. To combat this, Premiership Rugby has put in place a programme for steadily […]

Jose Mourinho is once again the talk of the back pages, but this time it’s for all the wrong reasons. The self-proclaimed ‘special one’ may have landed the Blues in a crisis after a series of highly publicised events that he has been at the centre of. With many pundits speculating that time is ticking […]

“Fiji effectively go out of the World Cup in the first five days, to me that is ridiculously unfair” The words of David Campese come in the wake of Fiji having lost to two of the tournament’s favourites England and Australia in the space of five days. Campese contends that every four years the Pacific […]

The Transfer Window opened on Wednesday and now is the time of the year when all clubs will look to strengthen their squads with vast amounts of money committed by Premiership Clubs, not only in transfer fees (and invariably Agents commissions) but major investment in players contracts, where the ‘average’ salary is close to £50,000 […]

Two years ago an amateur rugby player Jack Weston was jailed for six months after he punched an opponent so hard during an on-pitch row over a tackle that he broke his jaw. Contrast those facts with last Saturday’s Grand Final between St Helens and Wigan Warriors; Ben Flower punched Lance Hohaia with such vigour […]

FIFA have handed Suarez the longest ban in World Cup history which will see Suarez barred from all ‘football related activity’ for a period of four months. The ban is the biggest in World Cup history, beating the eight games given to Italy’s Mauro Tassotti for elbowing Spain’s Luis Enrique in 1994. Suarez is not […]