Shane O’Neill, Partner & Head of Sports Law

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Shane ONeill, Partner Head of Sports Law
Sport The Law
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• CLUB OPERATIONAL ISSUES
• Trustees and the Debt of our Clubs
• Child Welfare
• Civil Liability/Conduct Control
• Social Media

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• TRUSTEES THE DEBT OF OUR CLUBS
• Rules of the Club
• Holding property at the direction of the
  committee on behalf of the club members (mere
  trustees)
• Act upon the direction of the Committee
• The age of debt is here
• Cork City FC
• Limerick Golf Country Club

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• Implications of Club Debt
• Problem
• Trustees personally liable if no disclaimer in
  the Club Constitution/ Rules
• Solution
• The Trustees shall be indemnified by the members
  of the Club against all liabilities properly
  incurred by them in the performance of their
  duties as Trustees of the Club.
• Debt Management
• How much is owed and to whom
• Prepare a Statement of Affairs - Income
  Expenditure, Assets Liabilities
• Members input, financial and otherwise
• Dialogue with Creditors
• Full and final settlement offers
• Scheme of Arrangement (Section 201 of the
  Companies Act, 1990)

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• Implications of Trustees Personal Debt
• Problem
• Judgment Mortgage over Club Property
• Solution
• Identify
• Details of the Judgment Mortgage
• Details of the Judgment Mortgagee
• Dialogue with the Judgment Mortgagee with a view
  to discharging the charge as a Burden over Club
  Property

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• 2. CHILD WELFARE
• Children First National Guidance for the
  Protection and Welfare of Children 15th July
  2011 from Department of Children and Youth
  Affairs.
• Protocols for
• HSE Social Workers
• Gardaí
• Professionals dealing with these
• Department of Health and Children Our Duty of
  Care October 2002
• Protocols for
• volunteers in community organisations
• Governing Body - policy, procedures,
  recommendations, Code of Ethics and Best
  Practices

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• Sports Council of Northern Ireland and the Irish
  Sports Council Code of Ethics and Good Practice
  of Childrens Sport 2000
• Everyone involved in sport, i.e. Children,
  parents/guardians and Sports Leaders, should
  accept the role and responsibilities that they
  undertake in their commitment to maintain an
  enjoyable and safe environment.

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• To ensure Best Practice
• Adopt and implement the Code
• Appoint at least one Childrens Officer
• Have a Designated Person (liaison with the
  Statutory Authorities)

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• Childrens Officers
• Promote awareness of the Code
• Influence Policy Procedure
• Ensure children have a voice in the running of
  the club
• Ensure the Club Rules and Regulations include-
• Complaints, disciplinary and appeals procedures
• Anti-bullying policy
• Safety Statement
• Rules in relation to travelling with children
• Supervision and recruitment of leaders

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• Designated Person
• Responsible for dealing with any concerns about
  the protection of children
• Responsible for reporting allegations or
  suspicions of child abuse to the HSE and An Garda
  Siochana
• Liaise with National Childrens Officer

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• NB Childrens Officers and/or Designated Persons
  do not have responsibility for investigating or
  validating child protection concerns within the
  club and have no counselling or therapeutic role.
  These rules are filled by the statutory bodies
  as outlined in Children First and Our Duty of
  Care.

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• Vetting
• Club registered with Garda Central Vetting Unit
• NB Decisions in respect of suitability of
  applicants for positions is sole responsibility
  of the registered club and not the Garda Central
  Vetting Unit

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• National Vetting Bureau Bill 2011 (July 2011 -
  Presented by the Minister for Justice, Equality
  and Defence)
• Comprehensive and effective vetting system
• Strengthens child protection and safe recruitment
  practices
• Reflects International best practice
• Affects whom?
• Clubs, Organisations, National Governing Bodies,
  volunteer groups - working with children
• Mandatory Garda Vetting for all employers who
  hire employees or volunteers who work with
  children or people with disabilities
• Establishment of a National Vetting Bureau for
  the collection and exchange of both hard and soft
  information for vetting purposes
• The Vetting Bureau operated by the Gardai

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• Code - Practice
• Overnight stay and away trips
• Use of Photographic, Video/Mobile Phones

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• Exhibit Club Policy
• In line with the recommendation in the Name of
  Club/Association Code of Conduct, the promoters
  of this event regret that any person wishing to
  engage in any video, zoom or close range
  photography should register their details with
  the club. It is not advisable that children are
  photographed or filmed without their permission
  and/or the permission of their parent/guardian.
• Adopt Organisations/Associations Policy
• Adopt in Full
• Mitigate Loss
•  

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• Penn State
• American College Football
• Ennis Circuit Court
• Secondary School Teacher
• Syracuse University
• American College Basketball
• Swim Ireland

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• 3. Civil Liability/Conduct and Control
• Civil Claims were very rare
• Why?
• Internal disciplinary rules
• Player Injury Schemes
• High costs and uncertainty of success
• Members Restrictions

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• Negligence
• (Guidelines set out in English Case 2011 Caldwell
  -v- Maguire (horseracing))
• Duty owed to every other player
• Must act with reasonable care
• Inherent danger of sport/rules of sport,
  intensity of matches etc
• High standard of proof
• Need for reckless disregard

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• Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions), Act 2011
• Deals with the position of liability for
  negligence of volunteers (and good Samaritans)
• Volunteers shall not be personally liable in
  negligence for any act done when carrying out
  voluntary work
• Proviso that the act was not carried out by the
  volunteer in bad faith or with gross negligence

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• Protection is not afforded where
• the volunteer knew or ought reasonably to have
  known that the Act was either
• outside the scope of the voluntary work
  authorised by the organisation or
• contrary to the instructions of the organisation
• Adopt Organisations/Associations Policy
• Adopt in Full
• Mitigate Loss

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• Requirements
• Individual must be a volunteer as defined
• authorised by a volunteer organisation and does
  so without expectation of payment (other than
  reasonable reimbursement for expenses) or other
  reward
• The voluntary organisation must be a not for
  profit organisation which authorises voluntary
  work whether or not it is the principal purpose
  of the organisation
• The voluntary work must be for the purpose of
  sport or recreation (among others)
• The organisation/club should ensure that the
  scope of the voluntary work authorised by the
  organisation and/or the instructions of the
  organisation are expressly clear and communicated
  to the volunteer

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• What now?
• Opportunity to review policies, practices and
  procedures
• Educating volunteers as to the nature and scope
  of the work authorised
• Educating volunteers as to its instructions
• Ensure it is adequately protected (insurance
  cover)
• Adopt policies in full to mitigate loss

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• Clubs
• Vicarious liability
• Employers liability for employees actions
• Benefits - Claimant to avail of Clubs liability
  insurance
• Coaches
• Adequate training courses for coaches
• Playing ineligible players
• Playing injured players
• Instructing players to target opponents with
  reckless disregard

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• Conduct and Control
• Justice Act (Northern Ireland) 2011
• Criminal Offences
• Going on to pitch (up to 30 minutes after match)
• Throwing articles
• Abusive chants
• Fireworks
• Penalties
• Criminal Prosecutions
• Barring Orders

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• A United Ireland!
• Violence, Pitch Invasions
• Derrytresk -v- Dromid Pearses brawl (22nd January
  2012)
• St Bridgets -v- Corofin (November 2011)
• Tyronne GAA Clubs (2011)
• Abroad
• Egypt Riots (February 2012)
• Lucien Harinordoqui (November 2011)
• Ajax -v- AZ (reciprocal) (February 2012)

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• 4. Social Media
• Unless we progress, we regress - IRFU Attitude
  and Policy
• Websites
• Childcare Policies
• Bullying (forum/board sites)
• Defamation
• Blogs
• Facebook

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• Twitter - Once its out, the damage is done
• Ryan Babel
• 10,000 fine
• Mrs Kaka!
• Closed her account
• Sapolu
• Samoan Rugby Federation apologised
• Suspended
• Ravel Morrison
• Charged for use of abusive/insulting words,
  including references to persons sexual
  orientation

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• Recommendations
• Set out Social Media policies as per American
  Sports Bodies - NFL, NBA and NHL
• RWC 2011 - Terms of Participation
• All countries to sign up
• RFU - Had a Moratorium on all Social Media
  activity 24 hours before kick off and 24 hours
  after the game

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• Coming Soon
• Twitter/Facebook Insurance
• Social Media has elements of risk
• Where theres risk, theres insurance
• Kiln Cyber Insurance Policies (Underwriter -
  Lloyds of London)
• Main Difficulty
• Organisations do not have clear written
  guidelines for the use of Social Media