This just popped into my head today and I was curious. Certainly tons of actions that are business as usual in sports would be considered assault in different contexts. What prevents players from suing eachother for injuries and stuff? Curious about both professional levels and recreational/amateur levels, if they’re different.
Also, is there a line where actions outside of the rules (cheap shots, etc.) could be considered assault or something else?
In: 8
>Also, is there a line where actions outside of the rules (cheap shots, etc.) could be considered assault or something else?
The governing body of the sport generally has rules and processes for situations like this. Sometimes it involves in game penalties, such as time in the penalty box for fighting in hockey, or a flag for unsportsman like conduct in football. If the contact is illegal, but totally incidental like a kick to the groin in MMA, a pause is called to allow the kicked party time to recover.
If a participant shows that they are a chronic offender or the behavior is habitual, there is escalating punishment outside of the competition. Small fines or short suspensions to begin, escalating to larger fines and longer suspensions, to potentially even a total ban from participation. It generally won’t ever get to the level of legal action. If you are shown to be a habitual offender, teams wouldn’t want you with them as you would likely cause problems in the locker room, and opponents wouldn’t want to face you because you are a known cheater.
Latest Answers