This episode is also available as a blog post on https://sportslawandpolicyreviewreporter.com/2023/05/14/the-e-sports-hijack-diminishing-the-players-agency/

The E-Sports Hijack: Diminishing the Player’s Agency

With internet connectivity reaching almost all households globally, E-sports has gained soaring support. After being featured as a demonstration sport in the Asian Games, in 2018, E-sports has built a strong foundation for being recognized as a real sport. Moreover, the International Olympic Committee intends to initiate an 'Olympic Virtual Series.' Although no formally recognized governing body for E-sports yet exists, International Esports Federation (IESF) has been conducting tournaments globally to achieve official acceptance. The IESF Statute lays down specific objectives, which range from bringing together all E-sports stakeholders to ensuring fair play. However, the highly generic nature of the Statute, with no mechanism for enforcing the players' rights, shows the lack of proper governance. This further results in poor implementation and adherence to rules, leading to rights violations on such platforms. 

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://sportslawandpolicyreviewreporter.com/2023/04/10/online-gaming-regulation-bill-2022-a-progressive-step-with-a-regressive-framework/

The lack of a uniform regulatory structure for online gaming business has led to criminal activity, financial loss, privacy infringement, and data theft. A rigorous regulatory structure for online games is needed, as affirmed by the Madras High Court and Gujarat High Court. The Lodha Committee also advocated regulating betting and gaming to reduce unethical betting.

The Online Gaming (Regulation) Bill, 2022 was introduced to regulate such business. The proposed Bill aims to develop an effective regulatory mechanism for the virtual gaming industry for reducing online fraud and misuse. Considering the Bill’s objective, it may be viewed as a step forward in regulating internet gaming. However, due to its regressive nature, the Bill’s effectiveness in achieving its goal is dubious. This article essentially discusses the problems associated with the Bill.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://sportslawandpolicyreviewreporter.com/2023/02/14/regulation-of-driver-contracts-in-formula-one-is-it-time-to-devise-new-methods/

Sports, particularly team sports, have long seen the woes of unequal bargaining power between the management of teams and the athletes. Although Formula One is not a conventional team sport, tales of the power disparities between the constructers and drivers are almost fundamental to the sport. Generally, it is the drivers who are on the bleaker side of things, which means they are vulnerable to the whims of the constructors. Therefore, instances of drivers being dropped suddenly and surprise announcements of drivers jumping teams are common, due to which, there is an underlying uncertainty when it comes to driver contracts in Formula One.

To phrase it differently, driver contracts, with the constructors on the one end and the drivers on the other, constitute the heart of the competition; and the sanctity of contracts is especially crucial in such dynamics. However, as has been said, contracts in Formula One are worth only so much as you are willing to pay to break them. This dichotomy has been aptly highlighted in many recent instances.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://sportslawandpolicyreviewreporter.com/2023/02/08/chelseas-recent-transfer-window-controversy-an-eye-opener-for-ffp/

Chelsea’s Recent Transfer Window Controversy – an Eye Opener for FFP?

Ever since American businessman Todd Boehly and a consortium of investors completed the record £4.25 billion takeover of Chelsea FC, he has left no stone unturned to bring the club back to winning ways. After letting go of key club figures like director Marina Granovskaia, technical advisor Petr Čech, and Champions League winning manager Thomas Tuchel, he has taken the transfer market by storm by signing almost 20 players in 2 transfer windows, with Argentine world cup winner Enzo Fernandez being the latest addition to an already star-studded squad. While Boehly has been mocked and insulted for his ideas and monopoly-like spending, fans and officials from all around the world have asked a very important question… ‘How are Chelsea making so many signings without breaking FFP regulations?'

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://sportslawandpolicyreviewreporter.com/2023/01/22/loot-boxes-gambling-or-gaming/

Loot Boxes purchasable with in-game or real currency deliver randomized in-game item(s) which could be cosmetic, performance based or even a combination of the two. An estimated revenue of $48 Billion was generated from the sales of loot boxes alone in 2018.  The contents of the loot boxes remain unknown to the player until the purchase is actualized. While there exists a chance that the loot box may contain an extremely rare and invaluable item, there also exists a significantly greater chance that it contains a basic item of much lesser value. This sends the purchaser down a classic spiral where the purchaser believes the subsequent expenditure to deliver enough value to cover the losses already incurred. As a part of monetization strategies, the chances of a player receiving a high value item from a loot box is deliberately kept low by developers since such impulsive behavior of users induces repeat purchases. Either way, it is the game developer that ultimately wins.

In this blog post, the author discusses the loot box mechanisms of games and whether they possess the characteristics of conventional gambling systems.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://sportslawandpolicyreviewreporter.com/2023/01/07/deconstructing-the-aiff-suspension-conundrum-analysis-of-fifas-approach-on-third-party-intervention/

With FIFA holding such an extreme position of importance within the footballing ecosystem, associations have come to be at the mercy of the organisation, without whose support and backing, the associations are left in a state of isolation from the footballing world. Through the establishment of this governance system, FIFA has been successful in autocratically exercising control over member confederations and associations, with no questions being asked pertaining to the extent of this control, as a result of which the federations might often get inherently restrained and sanctioned. 

The reason why the policy of preventing third-party intervention is so strictly required to be complied with, and is stressed on so much that it is a must for an association to keep intact its membership, and is to ensure that there is no executive interference in the working of the footballing authority and that it is completely independent in its practice. Avoiding excessive government influence in the choices made by sports organizations is the initial step to be taken in order to reach this vision of autonomy. The autonomy of regulatory agencies remains essential for providing long-term support to the effective governance of sports organizations. Sport must control and oversee itself while abiding by the law in order to ensure autonomy. FIFA seems to be moving forward with these motives in mind when it comes to the strict enforcement of the policy of preventing third-party intervention.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://sportslawandpolicyreviewreporter.com/2022/12/27/national-anti-doping-agency-indias-failure-in-discharging-its-positive-duties-analysis-of-information-dissemination-and-athlete-awareness/

The sporting world has seen various instances wherein Athletes have resorted to the use of performance enhancing drugs in a bid to achieve an edge over their competitors. Using drugs or other processes for performance enhancement is justly considered to be unethical, considering that it essentially distorts the spirit of sports. This deliberate use of a substance or a process/method, banned by the medical commission of the World Anti-Doping Agency (‘WADA’) is what amounts to doping, and it is one of the most serious issues plaguing the field of sports in the modern day.

Additionally, owing to the rapid technological advancement, a plethora of processes and methods have been innovated, such as, inter alia- blood transfusion and gene modification, which are readily available and have intensified the fight against doping. Consequently, the objective behind having such a system of regulation in place to prohibit and penalise doping is to protect the Athletes’ health and avoid the accompanying consequences of doping, while also upholding the ‘spirit of sport’ at its core. 

This Blog Post discusses the duties of NADA with respect to providing and disseminating the required education and information to the Athletes, insofar as inadvertent doping is very much prevalent amongst Indian Athletes. The shortcomings of NADA have been discussed and the Author has also provided certain suggestions for reform. 

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://sportslawandpolicyreviewreporter.com/2022/09/03/concussion-class-action-suit-against-rugby-football-league-a-question-of-negligence/

he unwritten rule of football “If you can walk, you can play” has resulted in serious brain damage for many players. Studies reveal that out of the retired NFL players who were examined, 99% showcased signs of CTE. Former NFL players brought a class-action suit against NFL contesting that NFL was negligent as it did not disclose the risks of CTE, and also buried the relevant medical data.

Presently, Rugby Football league (“RFL”), a sport governing body that regulates professional rugby in the UK is hit by a lawsuit, where the players have alleged that the league body has failed to protect them from the aforementioned health risks. In this background, this article analyses whether RFL can be held to be negligent under the law of negligence for causing brain injuries. It elucidates the distinction between the NFL and RFL concussion litigation and the potential arguments that could be taken up by the RFL litigants.   

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://sportslawandpolicyreviewreporter.com/2022/07/17/contemporary-labour-law-issues-in-the-indian-sports-industry-a-comparative-study/

The development and commercialisation of sports has been complex and fragmented in the Indian context, which has posed several challenges in this area, some of which are related to labour law.

The need for labour law in sport is felt largely due to the existence of multiple entities that govern sports and sportspersons, and therefore the various interests at play. Broadly, these may include the interests of the club, for instance, whereby they would not want to pay a player who is not able to perform; and the interests of sporting bodies, who seek to preserve the integrity of the game, not to mention the individual interests of professional sportspersons.

The present article concerns with the contemporary labour law and employment related challenges in the Indian sports industry.

This episode is also available as a blog post: http://sportslawandpolicyreviewreporter.com/2022/06/28/sports-diplomacy-in-global-politics-a-case-study-of-bans-imposed-on-russian-motorsport-athletes%ef%bf%bc/

With the proliferation of international sports, sporting events have become an attractive medium of expressing messages on global as well as domestic issues. Governments can be actively seen using sports as a policy instrument to either promote their own ideologies and political orientations or to condemn those of some other countries. Confrontational use of politics in sports is not uncommon, as also evidenced by  numerous instances which have been discussed in this article. 

However, as powerful as sports diplomacy is, it comes with certain drawbacks. One major consideration here is that it pits the rights of the athlete against the larger considerations of international relations. Practice has proved that there is little doubt as to what will prevail, but the fact remains that such practices are unfair to the athletes and sportspersons. This article provides an analysis of the particular case of motorsport and the actions taken by the Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (FIA) post the Russian invasion of Ukraine in a bid to better understand this Athlete-Nationality dichotomy.