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
Just as an FYI there are class action lawsuits happening in professional rugby at the moment. Prob similar to the American Football concussion saga.
Just as an FYI there are class action lawsuits happening in professional rugby at the moment. Prob similar to the American Football concussion saga.
I can speak to hockey:
There are a number of rule defined ways to make contact with someone. If you are following these rules nothing happens and it is proper play.
Then there are illegal (from a rules perspective) ways to make contact. These are typically minor or major penalties. They are generally done while trying to make a legitimate play and are more or less part of the game (even if those are penalized) these will result in time served in the penalty box and your team being down a player in the meantime but don’t really have consequences outside of the game.
Next level is a game misconduct. This is usually a more serious version of the above penalties done without a serious attempt to make a legal play. Fighting is typically an automatic game misconduct in most amateur leagues. It kicks out the player for that game and the next. As far as I know you still can’t really face any lawsuits for this type of action. It’s still going to be covered in liability waivers everyone needs to sign before playing.
Last is a Match Penalty. They are incredibly rare but they will earn you a police report and likely a court date. It’s basically the referee saying “this is so far outside the bounds of regular play, it should be considered assault”. These are going to be things like swinging your stick like a baseball bat at another player, trying to cut someone with your skate, pretty any intentional contact with a ref or non participant.
I can speak to hockey:
There are a number of rule defined ways to make contact with someone. If you are following these rules nothing happens and it is proper play.
Then there are illegal (from a rules perspective) ways to make contact. These are typically minor or major penalties. They are generally done while trying to make a legitimate play and are more or less part of the game (even if those are penalized) these will result in time served in the penalty box and your team being down a player in the meantime but don’t really have consequences outside of the game.
Next level is a game misconduct. This is usually a more serious version of the above penalties done without a serious attempt to make a legal play. Fighting is typically an automatic game misconduct in most amateur leagues. It kicks out the player for that game and the next. As far as I know you still can’t really face any lawsuits for this type of action. It’s still going to be covered in liability waivers everyone needs to sign before playing.
Last is a Match Penalty. They are incredibly rare but they will earn you a police report and likely a court date. It’s basically the referee saying “this is so far outside the bounds of regular play, it should be considered assault”. These are going to be things like swinging your stick like a baseball bat at another player, trying to cut someone with your skate, pretty any intentional contact with a ref or non participant.
I can speak to hockey:
There are a number of rule defined ways to make contact with someone. If you are following these rules nothing happens and it is proper play.
Then there are illegal (from a rules perspective) ways to make contact. These are typically minor or major penalties. They are generally done while trying to make a legitimate play and are more or less part of the game (even if those are penalized) these will result in time served in the penalty box and your team being down a player in the meantime but don’t really have consequences outside of the game.
Next level is a game misconduct. This is usually a more serious version of the above penalties done without a serious attempt to make a legal play. Fighting is typically an automatic game misconduct in most amateur leagues. It kicks out the player for that game and the next. As far as I know you still can’t really face any lawsuits for this type of action. It’s still going to be covered in liability waivers everyone needs to sign before playing.
Last is a Match Penalty. They are incredibly rare but they will earn you a police report and likely a court date. It’s basically the referee saying “this is so far outside the bounds of regular play, it should be considered assault”. These are going to be things like swinging your stick like a baseball bat at another player, trying to cut someone with your skate, pretty any intentional contact with a ref or non participant.
If you are playing the game, you are agreeing to whatever forms of contact are allowed by the game – tackling in football, checking and fighting in hockey, etc. Anyone going past what is allowed by the rules is punished in game (penalties) or afterwards by the league (fines, suspensions).
In rare cases, if the violence is egregious enough, there can be consequences outside the framework of the game, such as for [Todd Bertuzzi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Bertuzzi%E2%80%93Steve_Moore_incident).
If you are playing the game, you are agreeing to whatever forms of contact are allowed by the game – tackling in football, checking and fighting in hockey, etc. Anyone going past what is allowed by the rules is punished in game (penalties) or afterwards by the league (fines, suspensions).
In rare cases, if the violence is egregious enough, there can be consequences outside the framework of the game, such as for [Todd Bertuzzi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Bertuzzi%E2%80%93Steve_Moore_incident).
If you are playing the game, you are agreeing to whatever forms of contact are allowed by the game – tackling in football, checking and fighting in hockey, etc. Anyone going past what is allowed by the rules is punished in game (penalties) or afterwards by the league (fines, suspensions).
In rare cases, if the violence is egregious enough, there can be consequences outside the framework of the game, such as for [Todd Bertuzzi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Todd_Bertuzzi%E2%80%93Steve_Moore_incident).
The core concept behind contact sports is something called “informed consent.” It’s illegal for someone to just tackle me for no reason, but when I am playing in a football game I have consented to allowing someone to tackle me, it’s part of the game.
However there have been cases where someone did something that was so egregious that there were lawsuits or even criminal charges. This occurs when someone does something so outside the rules that the player couldn’t have reasonably expected or consented to it.
For example in 2004 Todd Bertuzzi, a hockey player for the Vancouver Canucks, [sucker punched](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEjdwlT6g7o) Colorado Avalanche player Steve Moore, which you can see around 2:35 into the video. Bertuzzi was criminally charged for the incident and Moore, who never played again, sued Bertuzzi.
The core concept behind contact sports is something called “informed consent.” It’s illegal for someone to just tackle me for no reason, but when I am playing in a football game I have consented to allowing someone to tackle me, it’s part of the game.
However there have been cases where someone did something that was so egregious that there were lawsuits or even criminal charges. This occurs when someone does something so outside the rules that the player couldn’t have reasonably expected or consented to it.
For example in 2004 Todd Bertuzzi, a hockey player for the Vancouver Canucks, [sucker punched](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEjdwlT6g7o) Colorado Avalanche player Steve Moore, which you can see around 2:35 into the video. Bertuzzi was criminally charged for the incident and Moore, who never played again, sued Bertuzzi.
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