A Sports Law Rugby Blog
Last week, the news broke that rugby union may be the next sport to experience the disruption of a breakaway league. Reports suggest that plans are afoot for a new global franchise competition akin to the Indian Premier League, Formula…
1. Introduction This article is the third in a series of articles on the ongoing concussion litigation in rugby union, which was instigated in December 2020 by a group of former professional players against the Rugby Football Union (“RFU”), the…
1. Introduction This article is the (long overdue) second part of a series of articles on the concussion litigation in rugby union, which was instigated in December 2020 by a group of former professional players against the Rugby Football Union…
1. Introduction In December 2020, legal action was instigated by a group of former professional rugby players against the Rugby Football Union (“RFU”), the Welsh Rugby Union (“WRU”) and World Rugby, the sport’s International Federation. A pre-action letter of claim…
The COVID-19 pandemic has created a plethora of legal and administrative hurdles for sport worldwide, and rugby union is no exception. Existing fault-lines have come sharply into focus, as tensions have been exacerbated between the game’s stakeholders and discontent has…
On 11 September, The Times reported that the Ligue Nationale de Rugby (“LNR”) had “filed a legal case” with the European Commission challenging World Rugby’s Regulation 9 on player release. According to the report, the LNR is “seeking to strip…
The Coronavirus pandemic has created a myriad of problems in the Premiership. The difficulties of re-scheduling the season (discussed here) remain significant, and its ongoing economic impact has seen clubs across the league attempt to cut costs by furloughing players…
Over the weekend of 28 June 2020, a public disagreement broke out between two Premiership rugby clubs over the services of coach George Skivington. Mr Skivington was, until Saturday, an assistant coach at London Irish Rugby Football Club (“London Irish”).…
This week, it has been announced that Premiership clubs have voted unanimously in favour of lowering the level of the Premiership Rugby salary cap from the start of the 2021/2022 season. It has also been reported that Premiership Rugby (“PRL”)…
On 21 April 2020, the RFU published the decision of an independent disciplinary panel (the “Panel”) in the matter of RFU v Rohan Janse van Rensburg, Sale Sharks and Matthew Ginvert (the “Decision”). The case, involving charges against a player,…
