Slaughter and May is advising Lord Moynihan on his Private Member’s Bill "The Governance of Sport". The Bill was introduced in the House of Lords this afternoon.
Aimed at encouraging widespread discussion and raising the profile of numerous issues which are expected to dominate the political agenda for sport over the next decade, Lord Moynihan, himself an Olympic Silver Medallist, has introduced a Private Member’s Bill which proposes a wide range of measures covering a number of disparate areas. Amongst other things, the Bill proposes:
* increased accountability and transparency of governing bodies of sport which are in receipt of public funding and carry out quasi-public functions. For example, Government would be granted powers to introduce regulations in order to ensure highest standards of governance of these bodies and to require them to take action against discrimination and ensure disability access at sporting events
* that all independent schools should publish annually a report setting out policy in relation to sharing school sports and physical activity facilities and coaching/instruction expertise in order to benefit the local community, and that all independent schools holding charitable status must submit that report to the Charity Commission. The Charity Commission must take into account such report in assessing whether the school continues to meet the "public benefit" requirement for the purposes of the Charities Act 2011
* that an annual report be laid before Parliament setting out policy objectives to deliver a proactive health agenda through sport, physical activity and physical recreation, to promote sport and physical activity programmes to tackle obesity and enhance healthy lifestyles, and to suggest clear measures to be introduced to increase participation, both male and female, able-bodied and disabled, in active leisure pursuits
* a national audit of cycling - in order to ascertain the number of people cycling in the UK and the major causes of injury or death to cyclists - and the introduction of a wide range of regulations and initiatives to promote safety for cyclists
* protection against the loss of sports facilities to development, ensuring that such sports facilities as required are secured, to meet the sport and recreational needs of both current and future generations. This would include a presumption in favour of maintenance of the status quo in the absence of compelling evidence to support the loss of sports facilities
* to extend intellectual property protection to governing bodies of sport and major sporting events. This would regulate advertising and trading within the vicinity of major sporting events and would also, for example, enhance the protection of logos of governing bodies of sport as was the case for the 2012 London Olympic and Paralympic Games
* moving in line with leading European countries, where a criminal offence would be committed where an athlete knowingly takes a prohibited substance with the intention of enhancing his or her performance, or where a member of an athlete’s entourage encourages or assists an athlete in taking such a substance. Both the criminal offence and any current sporting sanction would apply simultaneously to doping offences. This aims to ensure drug-free sport and a level playing field among athletes
* the introduction of a 'credit' system, whereby a certain number of visas would be allocated to various sports clubs, associations and leagues. If not used to bring in overseas players, the visas may be traded for valuable consideration - so clubs supporting home-grown talent could benefit financially. This aims to address, inter alia, the debate surrounding the lack of English players in some Premier League clubs
In addition, the Bill captures numerous other measures, including in relation:
* to match-fixing, bribery and corruption
* sporting event betting licensing; an obligation on local authorities to make funding sport and other recreational services a mandatory and not discretionary line item; a single entity to merge UK Sport and Sport England: "Sport 2022"
* an obligation to set out the progress made on urban regeneration in and around the London Olympic site and the impact of sports legacy throughout the United Kingdom from the London Olympic and Paralympic Games; limited liability and a default constitution for members’ clubs
* boycotts of sporting events
* equality
* compensation for sports clubs with national team players
* regulation of sports agents; ticket touting
* the ability of athletes under the age of 18 to enter legally binding contracts in line with the world of entertainment
* television broadcasting of sporting events
The Bill may spark debate and various aspects may be adopted by political parties in their manifestos in advance of next year’s general election. Whilst it remains to be seen whether this is the case, as reflected in the name of the new body "Sport 2022", it is Lord Moynihan’s vision that these provisions are likely to become law, or be adopted in practice through a combination of voluntary cooperation and legislation, by 2022.
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Corporate and Commercial: Nigel Boardman (partner), Tina Winzer (associate), Björn Bork (associate)