Sports and the Law: Incorporation, Folau Case, and Duty of Care

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of sports law in Australia, addressing key legal issues and real-world scenarios. The report begins by examining how Rugby Australia's Gender Identity and Disability Dispensation Procedures align with Australian law, emphasizing the importance of safety, inclusion, and fair play. It then explores the incorporation of sports organizations under the Associations Incorporations Act and the Corporations Act, outlining the advantages and considerations for each type, with examples like the Australian Football League (AFL) and cricket. The report delves into the legal complexities surrounding the Israel Folau case, analyzing the application of the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s 772 and its relationship to the code of conduct. Finally, the report discusses the case of Michael Close, an ex-Brisbane Lions footballer, and his lawsuit against the AFL and Etihad Stadium, focusing on duty of care and negligence related to player injuries, highlighting the importance of stadium maintenance and the responsibilities of sports organizations.

Running Head: SPORTS AND THE LAW 1
Sports and the Law
Name
Institution
Date

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Sports and the Law
Question 1
There are a number of factors that make the Rugby Australian’s Gender Identity
Dispensation Procedure and Disability Dispensation Procedure comply with the Australian law.
This is because in the two sets of law and procedures, the safety of Australians is the most basic
consideration in all decisions that supersedes all considerations (Rugby Australia, 2019). Like
the Australian law ensures that every individual is included in every process, the Rugby
Australia’s Gender Identity and Disability Dispensation Procedures ensure that they are
inclusive, safe, and fair for every rugby participant.
Under this aspect, the Australian rugby procedures as well as the Australian law make
efforts to ensure that rugby participants and Australian citizens respectively are well represented
and compatible in terms of physical development and in their experience and ability to play with
and compete against each other (Byrne, 2019). Both the participation policy as well as the
Australian law ensure that rugby players’ and Australian citizens’ gender, age grades, as well
disability aspects are covered (Rugby Australia, 2019). For instance, in the gender identity and
disability dispensation procedures all players who are barely 16 and 17 years are not allowed to
compete in senior games due to their physical experience, maturity, and development.
However, the senior dispensation procedure is at times followed whereby players aged 18
years old are allowed to participate in senior rugby. This is in cases whereby the physical
maturity and development matches that of the seniors. In addition to this, the rugby gender
identity procedure complies with the Australian law since it ensures that the players are evenly
distributed within the team in terms of gender (Rugby Australia, 2019). Girls are given an equal

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opportunity in the team. Players with intellectual and physical disability are given an opportunity
in the team which is compliant to the Australian law.
Question 2
In Australia, some of the sports organizations are incorporated in under the corporations
act while other under the association’s incorporation. It is important to note that there is no
specific requirement for Australian sporting clubs to be incorporated (Queensland Guide, 2018).
There are numerous advantages of incorporating sporting clubs under either association’s act or
under the corporations act. One of the main benefit of the procedure is that it gives members of
the clubs a guarantee of limited liability. Besides, sporting clubs in Australia that are not
registered under either of the two acts are not considered legal within the law. As a result,
sporting clubs in Australia that are not registered do not have the capacity to enter into contracts
(The Sports Law Review, 2019). Therefore, registered sporting clubs in the country are at an
advantage. The association’s incorporation as well as the corporation act does provide specific
rules that are in compliance with the law. In addition to this, the reporting and management
requirements in the two acts are similar.
There are a number of factors that are required of the sporting clubs incorporated under
the associations and corporations act. All these sporting clubs under the two bodies are required
to manage the clubs under an established committee which have board of directors (The Sports
Law Review, 2019). From this, it is evident that there are no specific requirements that are
needed to determine the form of incorporation of the sporting clubs in Australia (Queensland
Guide, 2018). As a result, it could be said that the clubs are randomly incorporated under the
bodies based on open distribution. Australian Football League (AFL) is one of the sporting club

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registered under associations incorporations act while cricket is registered under corporation’s
act.
Question 3
Israel Folau in rugby is known for the extreme outrage he caused by posting on his
Instagram account quoting biblical doctrines. He posted issues that were farfetched considering
his career. Many are the times that he posted stuff regarding afterlife than he did regrading
rugby. The drama that he starred brought forth the issue of freedom of speech as well as the
acceptable code of conduct more so in regard to social media. Due to this, he lodged complaints
and sued the Australian rugby association for breaching their contract under Section 772 of the
Fair Work Act. His legal rugby team argued that they fired him on the basis of religion (Elmas,
2019). Under these proceedings, there are a number of sources of legal rules that apply to the
same. For instance, the Fair Work Act 2009 (Cth) s 772 bars individuals from posting issues that
violate the rugby rules.
This is because it attempts to rule the code of conduct of individuals in the teams. As a
result, the act does not contradict the code of conduct. This provision therefore takes priority
over the code of conduct. In addition to this, the act does provide an inclusive rule that
protectors individuals such as women, girls, the disables, pregnant women as well as the
minority in the society (Anthony, 2019). Some scholars argue that the firing of Folau was illegal
supporting that the code of conduct should take priority over the fair work act. This is because
they termed the firing of Folau as an act of discrimination (Anthony, 2019). As a result, they use
this case as one whereby employers should reference on how they should deal with their
employees.
Question 4

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Referring to Liam Elphick, Antonio Buti, and ‘Close case set to present a legal headache
for the AFL' The Conversation March 1 2018, Michael Close, an ex-Brisbane Lions footballer
sued AFL and the management of the Etihad Stadium for his knee injury that he sustained during
a football match in 2015 (Elphick & Buti, 2018). The AFL and the Etihad stadium were the
potential defendants. These defendants were said to owe a duty of care to the complainant since
they were liable for his injury and the aftermath in one way or another (Australian Leisure
Management, 2016). For instance, his injury resulted from sliding during the match since this
part of the turf in the pitch was uneven. In this regard, he raised concerns regarding the stadium’s
negligence on properly maintaining the turf in the pitch.
On the other hand, he claimed that AFL was responsible of ensuring the condition of the
stadiums were perfect. Neither of the defendants ensured that they performed their duties hence
the accident. It is for this reason that they were said to have breached their duty of care (Elphick
& Buti, 2018). I think and believe that relevant concerns should have been raised regarding the
state of the ground prior to the match. This should have been done by the management of the
Etihad stadium in order to ensure that the stadium’s state was modified prior to the game. This
would have been important since the chances of the injury taking place would have been
reduced.

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References
O'Donnell A, (2019). Opinion: Undone by off-duty behavior. Law Institute Journal. Published by
Law Institute of Victoria, 2019-09-12 22:31:36
Australian Leisure Management, (2016). AFL Players Association concern over player injury on
Etihad Stadium surface edge.
Byrne, P. J. (2019). Laws, sporting bodies, the AHRC are abolishing women's rights in
sport. News Weekly, (3048), 3.
Elphick L and Buti A, (2018). Close case set to present a legal headache for the AFL. Academic
rigor, journalistic flair. Retrieved From https://theconversation.com/close-case-set-to-
present-a-legal-headache-for-the-afl-92418
Elmas M, (2019). “Impossible position”: Folau sacking case could change how employers deal
with discrimination Smart Company. Retrieved From
https://www.smartcompany.com.au/business-advice/legal/israel-folau-workplace-
discrimination/
Queensland Guide, (2018). Inc: A Guide for Incorporated Associations in Western Australia.
Retrieved from https://www.commerce.wa.gov.au/book/export/html/5408
Smith S, (2019). Code of conduct vs the Fair Work Act – is firing Folau illegal? Published by
The news site of the Australian HR Institute.
The Sports Law Review, (2019). Organization of Sports Clubs and Sports Governing Bodies.
Retrieved from https://thelawreviews.co.uk/edition/the-sports-law-review-edition-
5/1211682/australia