On
26th November 2013, Richard Wee & Yip in partnership with LexisNexis
and in collaboration with the Sports Commissioner’s Office, embarked on a pilot
project which would kick start RWY’s very own professional development
programme called the RWY Legal Learning Lab. In tandem with exploring the
frontiers of Sports Law in Malaysia, the main purpose and objective of the RWY Sports Law Conference (RWYSLC) was
to create a platform to generate discussion and exchange views about Sports
Law.
This
inaugural conference saw 70 delegates in attendance at the Tournament Room of
the Kuala Lumpur Golf & Country Club (KLGCC). These delegates spanned from
representatives from numerous national sporting associations, officers from the
Ministry of Youth and Sports, Advocate & Solicitors and those involved in
the sports business. The conference even saw an international delegate who flew
in from Singapore solely to attend the conference.
As
the sun began to rise over the picturesque and prestigious golf course, the
Opening Ceremony of the RWY Sports Law Conference began at 9.15am with a short
prayer. Mr. Richard Wee then gave the opening word by providing a background
story of how the RWY Sports Law Conference was conceptualised and why it was
important and timely for us to discuss about the relationship between sports
and the law. Apart from that, he also expressed RWY’s gratitude and
appreciation to the Sports Commissioner’s Office and to LexisNexis Malaysia for
their immense support and guidance since the inception of the idea of the
conference.
The Guest of Honour, YBrs Tuan Harus Bin Che
Su, Timbalan KSU (Strategik), Kementerian Belia Dan Sukan then took the stage
to give the Welcoming Address and officiated the conference on behalf of YBrs
Encik Khairy Jamaluddin, Minister of Youth and Sports, who, unfortunately, was unable
to attend the same.
After
a short tea break, the conference resumed at 10am. The first session of the
conference titled “Sports Contracts..
Starting Block or Finishing Line?” was moderated by Mr. Yip Huen Weng, a
Partner at RWY.
Like how it is described in a 100 meter race, is a sports
contract a starting block for an athlete to start his career in sports giving
the athlete the freedom and liberty to focus only on his/her sporting career?
Or would it be an athlete’s finishing line or an end to his/her freedom, where
everything the athlete does would be governed by the four corners of his sports
contract? Can a happy medium or compromise be found between these two extremes?
And what happens in the event a dispute arises from such sports contract? What
would be the best way to resolve such a situation with minimum of distraction
to an athlete?
To share their views on the topic, RWY had three (3) very
distinguished and respected speakers.
The
first speaker, Dr. Jady @ Zaidi Hassim, a Senior Lecturer at Universiti
Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM), is the foremost academician on Sports Law in
Malaysia and author of “An Introduction to Sports Law in Malaysia”. In an
attempt to provide the delegates with the historical aspect of Sports Law, Dr.
Jady addressed the preliminary question of “What is Sports Law?” by touching on
the traditional, moderate and positive view of Lex Sportiva.
Dr.
Jady views sports contracts as a finishing line as it defines the terms of the
relationship between two parties and it creates specific obligations and
duties. According to Dr. Jady, sports contracts are shifting towards
collectivism and unionism in that the balance of bargaining power between the
club / sports organisations and the player rests with the former. Dr. Jady
believes that this is because of the slow process of the legal change itself.
The law in its partnership with sports has lagged behind its interaction with
other commercial aspects of our society.
It
is Dr. Jady’s aspirations that a union organisation and a system of industrial
relations law in sports can be established under the Ministry of Youth and
Sports and at a federal level. Only then will we see the real starting blocks
for athletes who enter into sports contracts in Malaysia.
Up
next, Malaysia’s very own Sports Commissioner, Tuan Ahmad Shapawi Bin Ismail, spoke
of the challenges and issues faced in the structure of Sports Law in Malaysia.
According to Tuan Shapawi, although sports bodies in Malaysia are required to
register with the Sports Commissioner’s Office, they remain a free body and are
bound by their own respective constitutions. The Sports Commissioner’s Office
merely supervises, but does not control the sports bodies. Tuan Shapawi
strongly feels that the constitutions of sports bodies, although managed and
decided by the body itself, ought to be in line with the Sports Development Act
1997 and Dasar Sukan Negara in order to create a more organized structure across
the board for all sports bodies in Malaysia. The duty ultimately lies on the sports
bodies to properly and fully understand their functions, roles and
responsibilities – and to administer the respective bodies accordingly. In
addition, it is important for athletes to comprehend the role of law in their
lives, which is strongly entangled with their position as athletes in the world
of sports.
After
an insightful talk by Tuan Shapawi, Professor Datuk Sundra Rajoo, the Director
of the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (KLRCA), discussed about
Sports Arbitration as an alternative dispute resolution for sports disputes.
According to Datuk Sundra, sports arbitration in the Asian region is rapidly
growing due to the nature and requirements of sporting disputes; speed,
fairness and neutrality – which are not offered in the traditional courts
system. A strong arbitration framework is able to fill this void and provide the
necessary services to the athletes, sporting federations and all sporting
participants across Malaysia. In fact, arbitration of sporting disputes is
already being administered globally with huge success such as by the IOC
through temporary arbitral tribunals overseeing the Olympic Games, by CAS which
provides a final forum for dispute resolution of sporting disputes worldwide
and by the World Anti Doping Authority who administers the Anti Doping Code.
At
the RWYSLC, Datuk Sundra also revealed that KLRCA has signed an agreement with
Switzerland-based International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS) to
serve as the official host of an alternative hearing centre for the Court of
Arbitration for Sports (CAS). The CAS alternative hearing centre in KLRCA
provides sports dispute resolution capabilities through arbitration and
mediation according to international sporting rules, including cases pertaining
to doping charges, television rights and sponsorship contract issues.
After
a coffee break, the conference resumed for the second session, “Sports Chatroom”, which featured three
prominent sportspersons: former national squash players Azlan Iskandar and
Sharon Wee, and Malaysia’s top national swimmer, Khoo Cai Lin.
A
brief background on the speakers of the 2nd session:
a) Azlan
Iskandar – former World No. 10 squash player, Founder of Azlan Iskandar Squash
Academy (AISA), Chief Executive Officer of Sportspin Event & Athlete
Management and author of “Basic Rules & Techniques for Squash”;
b)
Sharon
Wee – professional squash coach, Founder and Head Coach of Sharon Wee Squash
Pro, former World No. 18 squash player, TV presenter and sports commentator for
Astro Arena Channel 801; and
c)
Khoo
Cai Lin – multiple SEA Games Gold Medallist, Olympian (400m and 800m Freestyle)
and member of the Malaysian National Swim Team.
As the
moderator, Mr. Richard Wee led this interactive session between the panel of
speakers and members of the floor. The speakers gave us insights and opinions
on their view of the law and sports, their concerns and challenges as athletes
and former athletes, as well as what they would want from the law to assist
them. The general consensus was that athletes need to be educated about Sports Law
as long gone are the days where a sportsperson can be ignorant about their
rights.
Khoo
Cai Lin brought up the example of sponsors using an athlete’s image for
advertising purposes and not informing or remunerating the said athlete for the
same. Azlan advocated that a structure and standard operating procedure must be
put in place within the sports industry to counter the many grey areas which
are left undefined. Sharon, on the other hand, suggested that sports bodies
start thinking like a business entity and perhaps even have a special commercial
arm for business development and a marketing department to come up with
marketing strategies which will help attract sponsors.
Despite
the fact that an athletes’ commission exists in Malaysia, the welfare of
athletes are not looked after today. Calls were made for the Sports
Commissioner’s Office to look into this alongside the idea of an athletes’
union.
On
that note, the conference concluded with lunch where the noise level in the
Golfer’s Terrace reflected the discussions that had spilled over from the
sessions.
As a
closing word, RWY sees Sports Law as a new and challenging frontier for not only
lawyers, but all parties involved in the sports industry. As our country inches
towards professionalism in sports, so should all other components of sports;
one of which is the law. It is imperative that the legal services march along
or, better still, march ahead in the grove of sports to ensure that our
sportspersons, sports associations, and sports companies will be serviced
accurately and professionally by lawyers.
As
such, we hope that the RWY Sports Law Conference was as fruitful and rewarding
for the delegates as it was to us. We would like to take this opportunity to
express our heartfelt gratitude to all who participated in the conference.
Already, RWY is planning the next Sports Law Forum and Sports Law Conference
respectively in 2014.
We
strongly believe that the conference is not a finishing block. Conversely, it
is the starting line to a greater future for the Malaysian sports industry and we
aim to create heightened awareness in the world of Sports Law.
·
Detailed
coverage of the RWY Sports Law Conference 2013 - http://storify.com/lesleylimaili/rwy-sports-law-conference-2013
·
Twitter
- #RWYSLC and #SportsLaw
·
Videos
of the conference – search “RWY Sports Law Conference 2013” on YouTube
