“Sports governing bodies owe duty of care when assuming responsibility for safety”
Michael Watson was a professional boxer who suffered severe brain injuries during a fight in 1991. He sued the British Boxing Board of Control (BBBC) claiming they were negligent in their safety arrangements, particularly regarding medical facilities at ringside and post-fight medical care.
Whether a sports governing body owes a duty of care to participants in the sport it regulates, and if so, whether the BBBC breached that duty.
The Court of Appeal held that the BBBC owed Watson a duty of care and had breached it. Watson succeeded in his negligence claim.
This case extends the assumption of responsibility principle to sports governing bodies and establishes that regulatory bodies can owe duties of care to those they regulate. It has important implications for sports law and regulatory negligence.
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OSCOLA Citation
Watson v British Boxing Board of Control [2001] QB 1134
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