When a Sports Injury Becomes Illegal

Believe it or not, some people may be compensated if they sustain an injury on the sports field. There is, after all, a difference between an accidentally bad tackle and a deliberately bad one.

Of course, some sports are more dangerous than others: of that there can be no doubt. This week a leading sports journal has concluded that protective headgear worn by rugby players during matches does little to protect against brain and spinal injury, although it maybe protect against scalp lacerations and facial damage.

Dr Michael Cusimano has called for greater awareness of the implications of poor and undisciplined tackling on the sports field, telling Neurosurgery journal that "(Educational) strategies should be made available to all rugby players so that these athletes can spend more time playing on the field than recovering off of the field."

An American footballer has recently been in the news after a spinal injury has, for the time being, rendered him quadriplegic. Rutgers University defensive tackle Eric LeGrand was left paralysed from the neck down after making a bad tackle on a fellow competitor. This follows a spate of brain injuries suffered by American football players in recent months and the resultant call for improved safety has prompted the consideration of new safety measures.

Back in Britain, one man is a very visible crusader for greater safety in sport, having been seriously injured himself: Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech clashed with Reading's Stephen Hunt during the first minute of a league match at Reading's home ground on 14th October 2006. Although Cech was conscious after the tackle, it later transpired that his injury was potentially life-threatening. To this day, four years later, he wears a specially-constructed skull cap to protect himself.

These injuries may be seen as part of normal play, but there is a point at which the law could become involved: there is a difference between a bad tackle and a malicious one. Take also the example of motor racing - arguably the most dangerous of all: drivers get hurt all the time because they accept that what they are doing is dangerous. But if something happens due to negligence, then things are different.

Take the accident that killed triple F1 champion Ayrton Senna in May 1994: staff members of the Williams team were prosecuted, as it was alleged that a failure of their car had caused Senna's death, rather than any mistake on the part of the driver.

Most people won't become an F1 driver or a Premiership footballer. But if they are injured playing sport, as difficult as it may be, it is not impossible to be compensated for any injuries.

A claimant may have a valid case if they can prove that the organisers of the game were negligent in some way, or if the venue for the match was in below-par condition.

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