The Centre Court Jurist

The ball is mine Many of us who played football on the street as kids will remember that one guy who was not good at the game but owned the ball. Ownership of the ball bestowed many powers on him. He selected his team first, coached both teams, wrote the laws of the game, was the referee and everyone wanted to be his friend. No one had the courage to tell him when he was offside. In modern day football, he would be the Video Assisted Referee ("VAR") as well. The suspension of the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association (“TTFA”) by the Federation of International Football Associations (“FIFA”) reminds me of that guy who always said, the ball is mine. photo credit - Ben Curtis / AP The TTFA The TTFA was created under the Laws of Trinidad and Tobago by the Trinidad and Tobago Football Association Act No. 17 of 1982 (“the TTFA Act”). One of its objectives is to regulate and control the conduct of Football in Trinidad and Tobago under the FIFA system. It is bound by the F...

In this article the Centre Court considers safety at sports events in South Africa . We look at the increase in hooliganism at sports (especially football) events, measures that associations or federations normally take to curb such conduct and statutory measures that are arguably more effective in dealing with hooligans or criminals at sports events. 1 - Lest we forget. On 13 January 1991, 42 football lovers lost their lives at the Oppenheimer Stadium in Orkney at a football match between Orlando Pirates Football Club (“Orlando Pirates”) and Kaizer Chiefs Football Club (“Kaizer Chiefs”). The tragedy is known as the Orkney Disaster . The next tragedy of similar magnitude was the Ellis Park Disaster on 11 April 2001 where 43 people lost their lives at another match between Orlando Pirates and Kaizer Chiefs at Ellis Park Stadium.  The Commission of Inquiry into the Ellis Park Stadium Soccer Disaster of 11 2001 (commonly referred to as the Ngoepe Commission of Inquiry) ...

In this article the Centre Court considers the  Hartem Ben Arfa   (Ben Arfa) claim from a South African point of view. Can a professional athlete in a team sport bring such a claim and on what basis? If yes, would such a claim succeed? We close off by looking at possible ways to avoid such a situation from both the clubs' and athletes' point over view. 1 - What’s the Ben Arfa lawsuit fuss about? Last week it was reported that Ben Arfa  had lodged a lawsuit   against his former club Paris Saint-Germain FC (“PSG”)  for  £7 million  (about R123 million) allegedly for loss of earnings and “discrimination and workplace harassment” . It is reported that Ben Arfa was entitled to performance bonuses in addition to his basic salary. Following injury woes and alleged bad blood between him and PSG, Ben Arfa spent the last 15 months of his contract on the sidelines training with the reserve side. Reports further say Ben Arfa claims that PSG did everything t...

(Photo: pixabay.com) The South African Premier Soccer League (“League”) January 2019 transfer or registration window opened on 2 January and will close at midnight on 31 January. Clubs (coaches actually) tried a few combinations in their squads during the first half of the season and will be looking to strengthen, or trim, their squads. For many, focus during this period tends to be on the technical (or is it tactical) aspects of their squads. This results in the neglect of other key matters such as legalities of the transfers or deals which, if not handled properly, may complicate the transfers or deals concluded during this period. In this Blog we consider five of the key legal issues (in terms of the general principles of the law, the League Handbook, SAFA and FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players) that South African football clubs must consider before concluding transfers or deals. 1 - Validity transfers We have, in the past, seen or heard of clubs "s...