First Woman Referee in Men’s World Cup - and in Qatar 

Yesterday, in a historic first, a woman referee took charge at the Men’s Football World Cup. FIFA is keen to celebrate how French referee Stéphanie Frappart and her assistants, Brazil’s Neuza Back and Mexico’s Karen Díaz, adjudicated the match between Germany and Costa Rica, as proof that it is advancing gender equality. Significantly, this historic moment took place in Qatar where authorities treat women as legal minors in their own country.

In a 2021 report, I documented how Qatar’s laws, policies, and practices require women to obtain male guardian permission to marry, study on government scholarships, work in many government jobs, travel abroad unless they marry or turn 25, and obtain certain forms of reproductive healthcare. Men, on the other hand, need no such permission once they turn 18. Many of these rules don’t have any legal basis and are contrary to Qatar’s own constitution which guarantees women’s equality before the law.

Qatar is keen to show it has three female ministers, many high achieving women, and more female graduates than men and claims that in 2010 it was the only country to have a female lead in the World Cup bid. Many women who have broken barriers said they were either lucky enough to do so with the support of their families, or had to fight for approval over their decisions.

This is great news for women in the sport. Most women told me of the heavy toll such rules have taken on their ability to lead independent lives, including when male guardians denied them permission to drive, travel abroad, study, work, or marry a person of their own choosing. Qatar’s severe discriminatory rules leaves them an outlier even among their own neighbors.

Top 5 Football Scandals

 Welcome back to our sports law blog. There has been plenty of controversies involving football, and for a sport attracting plenty of attention and generating plenty of money, it is likely to have its fair share of controversies as well.

Although, most footballers do have excellent virtues and can be a role model on and off the pitch, there are many who are involved in affairs and the like, and when they do get caught, it is devastating for the footballer and those around them.

There have been many scandals in world football ranging from match-fixing to drugs, and many footballers have been in the spotlight for the wrong reasons. This is a list of the top 5 of these scandals, brought to you by the Chris Farnell lawyer blog. 

1. The Calciopoli Scandal 

Calciopoli Scandal in 2006 rocked world football when it emerged that many top clubs in Italy had been involved in influencing the appointment of referees for their games among various other allegations.

Juventus who had won the 2005 and 2006 league were stripped of their titles and were relegated to Serie B where they stayed for one season before returning to top flight immediately. Though Juventus were punished seriously for their involvement, AC Milan and some other clubs could consider themselves fortunate not to endure such serious consequences.

It had a major impact on Italian and world football, and since then, extra precautions have been enforced in football in this regard. Juventus have since not won a single league title and have not been the same force in the last few seasons though under the diligent Antonio Conte, they have shown that they can be serious contenders for the title this season.

2. John Terry's Affair with Wayne Bridge's Wife 

Manchester City defender Wayne Bridge was devastated after it emerged that John Terry could be involved in an affair with his wife Vanessa Perroncel. Bridge and Terry have played together for both Chelsea and England in the past and were considered to be good friends before this incident. It is no surprise that Bridge reacted in this manner and even refused to play for England if he is to play alongside Terry.

In the games against Chelsea that he has taken part since details of the alleged affair emerged, he has refused to shake hands with Terry. The Chelsea defender also had a tough time following the affair, considering that he was stripped of his captaincy before the world cup by Fabio Capello and had to endure plenty of criticism.

3. Robert Hoyzer's Fixing Scandal

German referee Robert Hoyzer was under the scanner after the German football federation suspected him of rigging a Cup game involving Hamburg. He had initially denied the charge but later accepted that he was to be blamed and promised to cooperate completely for the investigation. In the game between Hamburg and Paderborn that was investigated by the DFB, he awarded two penalties against Hamburg and also sent off a Hamburg game.

4. Adrian Mutu Drug Scandal 

Adrian Mutu was signed by Chelsea FC in August 2003 from Parma for big money and then, just over a year of his stay at Stamford Bridge, he was embroiled in plenty of controversy when he was sacked after he was found using cocaine.

This led to his suspension, and he was subsequently moved on by the club. Mutu was ordered to pay a bill in excess of £14.6 million after he was moved on under forced circumstances by the Blues. 

5. The Murder of Andres Escobar

Colombian defender Andres Escobar was murdered in July 1994 just after the team was eliminated from the World Cup due to his own goal, and it is widely believed that it was why he was killed.

It could be some drug traffickers who lost money betting on the team that they targeted the respectable defender. In the above video, it is quite clear that it was an unfortunate error which could happen at times even to the best defenders of the game, and it is a tragedy that he was murdered.

To read more football news and sports law updates, check back soon our blog. You can also read the Chris Farnell lawyer blog here. 

 Chris Farnell Interview on Facebook about Charlton

Former Charlton director Chris Farnell has been cleared for football club ownership by the EFL. The solicitor had his role as the club solicitor at The Valley terminated in August. He was informed today that his Disqualification Condition has been lifted after successfully appealing to an independent League Arbitration Panel.

The Panel heard that, an inadvertent mistake had been made during the initial Owners and Directors Test application, and that there was no dishonest or deliberate attempt to provide false or misleading information. Chris Farnell advises leading Premier League and Football League Clubs, leading sporting and media agents and a number of high profile sporting individuals on a wide variety of matters.

The decision means Mr Farnell is now free to reapply, under the EFLs OADT, if he wished to do so without prejudice or restriction.A spokesman for Mr Farnell, said: “Following a hearing on Tuesday October 28 2020, before an independent League Arbitration Panel, Mr Farnell succeeded in his Review Application of the EFL’s decision to impose a ‘Disqualifying Condition’ upon him under the EFL’s Owners’ and Directors Test.”

Chris’ practice areas include: Sports, Media & Entertainment. He specialises in image rights, third party ownership issues, player transfers, intellectual property contracts, contract re-negotiations, sponsorship and endorsement contracts, defamation, sports dispute resolution, footballer and agent disputes, doping hearings, regulatory issues, and both contentious and non-contentious intellectual property law.

Farnell was initially appointed by Tahnoon Nimer as a boardroom battle kicked off with Matt Southall and Jonathan Heller. Watch this video to find out more about Chris Farnell and his involvement with Chris Farnell Charlton Althletic football club. Here is an interview from Facebook with Chris. Make sure to leave your comments below and follow our football blog. Here is the Chris Farnell Charlton video.

£20M Negligence Suit for Breach of Duty

Welcome to the Chris Farnell football news and sports law news blog. London firm Mishcon de Reya has admitted breach of duty by failing to file a hard copy of an appeal bundle in time on behalf of a former Premier League football club, the High Court heard today. The claim centres on the signing of midfielder Ricardo Alvarez.

The firm accepts it failed to file Sunderland AFC’s appeal bundle in hard copy with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in time during a long-running dispute over the signing of an injury-prone player, but denies that the breach caused any loss to the club.

Sunderland’s professional negligence claim, which the court heard is valued at around £20m but is understood to now be for a smaller sum, centres on the signing of Argentinian midfielder Ricardo Alvarez from Italian giants Inter Milan in 2014.

Under the deal, the player joined the then-Premier League club on loan and would be signed permanently if a pre-existing injury to his left knee did not get any worse. Sunderland says that, after a number of injuries, Alvarez saw a specialist who recommended surgery on his right knee for which Inter Milan would not give permission – so the club terminated the transfer and the player’s contract.

Inter Milan brought proceedings against Sunderland in a case that ultimately went to CAS, which ordered Sunderland to pay Inter Milan €10.5m (£8.8m) plus costs.

Separately, Alvarez successfully brought a claim against Sunderland for wrongful termination of his contract, with the dispute resolution chamber of football’s governing body FIFA ordering the club to pay £4.2m plus interest.

The club appealed to CAS and Mishcon filed an electronic copy of Sunderland’s appeal brief in time, but failed to file a hard copy before the deadline. CAS dismissed Sunderland’s appeal and, on Alvarez’s cross-appeal, ordered the club to pay its former player £4.77m plus interest of £1.1m. Sunderland claims that, as a result of Mishcon’s breach of duty, it lost the chance to challenge FIFA’s jurisdiction and lost the opportunity to argue that Alvarez lied about his knee injury.

However, Mishcon argues that ‘it is inevitable that CAS would have dismissed Sunderland’s appeal’ in any event. CAS rejected Sunderland’s assertion that Alvarez made any fraudulent misrepresentations ‘in unequivocal terms’ on the player’s cross-appeal, Mishcon’s barrister Daniel Saoul QC told the court. Chris Farnell is a sports lawyer from IPS Law. In this blog we follow the latest news and views from the world of sports law. Find out more about Chris Farnell Charlton here. Follow Chris Farnell on Facebook here.

Five substitutions in football

Welcome to the Chris Farnell news blog. Legal changes affecting the game happen all the time, however sometimes they are more important than others. Here we will discussed the recent changes brought in to the beautiful game. Football law makers have recommended five substitutions are implemented permanently in the sport. Find out more here. 

The rule was first introduced by the International Football Association Board (Ifab),in May 2020 - a month before football restarted after being paused because of the Covid-19 pandemic. The Premier League voted against its continuation in the 2020-21 season.

Individual football leagues and competitions will be able to decide whether or not to take on the new rules. The decision by them follows a meeting chaired by Fifa on Wednesday, involving Ifab's Football and Technical Advisory Panels. This is an interesting development. 

The Ifab commented: 

"FAP-TAP today recommended that competitions should be able to decide on increasing the number of substitutes according to the needs of their football environment, while the current number of substitution opportunities should stay the same."

The law makers said it follows "a number of requests from confederations, associations, leagues and other key stakeholders for this option to be introduced permanently". Many Premier League sides are believed to have felt having five subs would unfairly benefit major clubs with stronger squads.

However, some leading managers, including Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp and Manchester City's Pep Guardiola, have previously said the limit on changes has contributed to injury problems. As a sports lawyer, this is something to monitor closely. 

Chris Farnell advises leading Premier League and Football League Clubs, leading sporting and media agents and a number of high profile sporting individuals on a wide variety of matters. To find out more about Chris Farnell from IPS Law online. You can also follow him on the Chris Farnell Facebook page.