A right to play : a legal answer to the plight of modern football

Abstract

This thesis argues that many of the exemptions granted to footballing Governing bodies are not proportionate anymore given the way in which the commercialization of sport has altered the social and competitive dynamics of organized football. The Author argues that there is a pressing need to rebalance the scales in favour of those categories of players who are currently being shackled by burdensome national regulations; namely amateur players – in particular youths. The Author asserts that establishing an enforceable Right to Play would form an integral part in solving this imbalance of power. The Author proposes that this should be done by first enshrining the Right to Play in Article 20B of our Constitution after which it would have the highest political and legal backing to be enacted in the relevant acts that would render it enforceable. This, the Author argues, though not without its perils, is the most effective and efficient way of protecting the Right to Play of thousands of amateur players locally who currently have no effective means of redress. Furthermore it is a concept that has the potential to alter much of the legal reasoning and balance of power in the field of sports law as a whole.