SLBA Event with Prof Jack Anderson, University of Melbourne - New Consensus, Legacy Problems: Concussion Litigation

Date: Thursday morning, 6th July 2023

Start Time: 9am

Finish Time: 10am

Location: Gaffney Room & Online

This event is open to all.

This CPD will focus on concussion in sports law, covering the litigation in the AFL in Australia and the new Amsterdam Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport.

This presentation will be given by Prof. Jack Anderson, University of Melbourne

Jack Anderson is on leave as Professor and Director of Sports Law Studies at the University of Melbourne. He is currently acting Special Counsel (Integrity Regulation) at Racing Victoria. Jack has published extensively on sports law, including most recently with D Thorpe et al, Sports Law (4th ed, OUP 2022). Formerly a CAS arbitrator (2016-2019), he is a member of World Athletics’ Disciplinary Tribunal, the integrity unit of the International Hockey Federation and is an Ethics Commissioner for the International Tennis Federation. Jack is an arbitrator for the Football Federation of Victoria, Football Australia and he was appointed by the federal government to chair the committee that led to the establishment of the statutory National Sports Tribunal of Australia.

 Abstract Chronic neurological trauma, severely impacting the physical, psychological, professional and familial life of former AFL (Australian Rules) players, is now the basis of multiple class action. Former AFL players are seeking compensation in negligence against treating doctors, clubs and/or the governing body or league in question. The proceedings are taking place against the backdrop of a Senate inquiry into concussion in sport. This presentation assesses the substance of such actions, comparing them to those which occurred previously in the US and are ongoing in the UK and Ireland. It also asks whether litigation is the optimal means of resolving the medical, regulatory, and legal concerns of not only the players involved, but with how the game is played; indeed, the very future of contact sport itself.

Pre-reading A paper relevant to the presentation can be accessed here