Sport & assault a bad sporting mix!
A recent personal injuries case heard in the High Court in Dublin brought the focus
what is allowed to pass as part of a contact sport and what constitutes an assault.
The case involved what was found to be an assault causing serious facial injuries to a soccer player.
The injury turned out to be a fractured jaw which caused considerable pain & discomfort to the injured player.
Now sport of all sorts has always included the consent of ‘volenti’ or consent to reasonable force, be it in a tackle or other challenge.
This case showed that by striking another player with intent to harm him outside the rules of the game, that the assailant was responsible for the harm caused and should compensate the victim.
So far so good, but when is unreasonable force actionable in the courts.
Some of the tackles we see in GAA, rugby and other sports run close to the edge of assault.
What is clear is that if deliberate intent to harm an opponent can be shown to a court
the person responsible may be exposed to a claim for damages for any injury sustained.
Other matters as to whether the assailant has the financial wherewith all to pay any court award it must also be considered as otherwise the courts judgement may simply be a paper judgment with the victim recovering nothing!
In the recent case in the High court compensation of €47,000 was awarded for the personal injuries suffered by the innocent player.
The role of insurance is unlikely to assist as few policies if any are likely to provide insurance cover which allows a policy holder to intentionally injure another!
The issues raised by this interesting case will no doubt reappear in the future
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