Sport: Law and Practice.

• Author: Blackshaw, Ian
• Position: Book review

By Adam Lewis and Jonathan Taylor (Editors), Tottel Publishing Ltd, Haywards Heath, United Kingdom, Second Edition 2008, pages 1485 + LXXI, ISBN 978 1 84766 066 4, price [pounds sterling]175

As the editors point out, since the first edition of this Book was published five years ago, the law of sport has continued to develop "significantly". They further comment as follows: "While sport may still not be more important than religion, for many it occupies more of their time and interest. as a result, sport continues to develop into an extremely valuable commercial sector." In fact, sport accounts for more than 3% of world trade and more than 2% of the combined GNP of the twenty-seven Member States of the European Union (EU). Thus, there is so much to play for both on and off the field of play. and this gives rise, therefore, to an ever increasing range of legal issues.

The purpose of the Book is to provide "a practical resource for advisors in this sector." The new edition of the Book naturally updates existing material and also adds new material-it is now over 300 pages longer than the first edition. In fact, one of the significant developments, since the first edition of the Book, is the awarding of the 2012 Summer Olympic and Paralympics Games to London, and this is reflected by a new section dedicated to the corresponding legal issues. This section is contributed by lawyers working for the London Games Organising Committee. One intriguing aspect of this subject is the section on the statutory measures (the London Olympic Games and Paralympics Games Act 2006 ('LOGPGA 2006')) that have been put in place to protect the Olympic Symbols and the right to be associated with the London Games (the so-called 'London Olympics Association Right' ('LOAR')) granted to sponsors and other commercial 'partners' of the event. In other words, the ambitious arrangements for combating 'ambush marketing' and 'ambush marketers' which remains a problem for major sports events' organisers. In particular the right to use in advertising and promotional material such expressions as 'twenty twelve'; 'gold' 'silver' and 'bronze'; 'medals'; and 'London'. These measures are quite controversial and have been widely criticised by the UK Advertising and Marketing Industries as being too exclusive and restrictive!

The new edition of the Book follows the format of the old one. The First Part deals with the legal regulation of sport, including legal challenges to governing...