THE LEGAL IMPLICATIONS IN SPORTING EVENTS IN INDIA CAUSED BY THE CORONAVIRUS IN CONTEXT OF FORCE MAJEURE AND DOCTRINE OF FRUSTRATION

Abstract

Amid the exponential dissemination and impacts on human health posed by Coronavirus, policymakers around the globe have enforced social distancing mechanisms and travel restrictions in the early months of this year, exacerbating these policies into lock-down directives and restrictions on public events. The international sports market is an economic sector approximated at $488.5 billion going up to a whopping $612 billion in 2022i which includes infrastructure, tournaments, skills development, production, and service industries. The range and revenue-generating possibilities are most recognizable throughout the marquee major international sporting tournaments. The organisers, promoters, teams, networks, sponsors, catering companies etc. are all components of this booming market of international sports tournaments, with large amounts of money involved in the industry. The global pandemic caused or provoked by the coronavirus or COVID-19 has had a shattering influence on sporting tournaments and events, with international events including the Olympics getting delayed by nearly a year, and other events seriously considering a severely restricted format, or potentially even discontinuation, such as that of the 2020 Wimbledon.  Furthermore, internationally-watched sporting events such as basketball (NBA), football (UEFA, major European Leagues) and cricket (IPL-2020, many other bilateral tournaments) were plunged into turmoil as television companies and sport-leagues who'd already fitted specific periods for their broadcast of the game face ambiguity due to the risks of the events getting forced to cancel for fear of contracting the virus. All temporary suspensions, postponements and terminations are interruptions that also have regulatory and legal repercussions for all of the tournament's stakeholder groups, from the organizer, team members, corporate partners, media companies and business rights holders to the viewing public. This research paper examines the legal and contractual consequences of rescinding and temporarily suspending these sporting tournaments across those stakeholder groups specifically in the context of the force majeure clause and the doctrine of Frustration while also providing suggestion as to what the next steps should be.