On 18 March 2020, DLA Piper held an international cross-practice webinar to discuss the impact of coronavirus COVID-19 on the global sports sector.

In a busy year for international sport, sports stakeholders around the world are facing up to the unprecedented challenge of COVID-19. To date, events have already been cancelled or postponed in a wide range of sports, including football, basketball, cycling, athletics, rugby union, and Formula 1.

All stakeholders need to understand the legal implications of the COVID-19 outbreak for the sports sector, what they can do to protect their position, and how the situation may evolve.

Our free one-hour webinar – a recording of which is available here – addressed:

• the current situation regarding COVID-19 and its commercial and legal implications for the sports world;
• the legal tools available to contracting parties to deal with the impact of COVID-19; and
• the practical steps stakeholders should take to protect their position.

Key takeaways

We would encourage you to listen to the webinar (using the link above) to hear what our panel had to say on the impact of COVID-19. In short, the key takeaways for sports stakeholders are:

• Different governments are taking different steps to combat COVID-19, so monitor the changing situation closely.
• Seek legal advice promptly in all relevant jurisdictions and perform a fact-specific analysis of your situation.
• Review your contracts and any relevant sporting rules.
• Explore commercial solutions.
• Are you insured?
• Take precautions for the future (including updating policies and procedures etc.)

If you have any questions on the webinar, or the impact of COVID-19 more generally, please feel free to contact any of the panellists using the details below: