Liability for Professional Athletes’ Injuries: a comparative analysis of where the risk lies

Over the past 20 years, there has been an unprecedented increase in sports labour migration, international competition and litigation arising from sports injuries. As athletes move between jurisdictions and play abroad more frequently, the legal norms that they encounter are often radically different from those with which they may be familiar in their home country. This paper examines the similarities and differences in approach to cases of sporting negligence in England and Wales and France. In particular, it focuses on the substantive law applicable to such sports torts and the problems that are faced by an injured professional athlete who is seeking compensation because of the different approach to the burden of risk in these jurisdictions. The paper begins by outlining this increased internationalisation of sports employment before comparing the applicable law of England and Wales with that of France. It concludes by examining whether these fundamental differences in the burden of risk should lead to a more sports-specific approach to this field of dispute resolution.