It is now common practice for major rights holders such as FIFA and the IOC, as part of the relevant bidding process, to oblige the successful bidder to in
Hannah EdmondsonSenior Associate,Corporate Commercial
The implementation of specific event laws is increasingly becoming a key requirement in the hosting of major sports events. It is now common practice for major rights holders such as FIFA and the IOC, as part of the relevant bidding process, to oblige the successful bidder to introduce new event laws (also known as enabling laws) and/or update existing legislation to facilitate the hosting and staging of the event.
As part of its initial bid for the 2022 FIFA World Cup, the State of Qatar will have committed to ensuring compliance with certain of its hosting commitments to FIFA through event laws, some of which may contradict or are not already covered under the existing legal framework.This commitment was fulfilled by the enactment of Law No.10 of 2021 and Law No.11 of 2021.
Law No.10 has ten chapters, including procedures for entry and exit, protection of the intellectual property of FIFA and its commercial partners, safety and security and taxation. Law No.11 has twelve chapters which further protect FIFA’s intellectual property rights in the State.
In this article we will consider some of the essential provisions of event laws, which not only support the smooth delivery of the event but also protect the interests of all those involved.
As the 2022 FIFA World Cup draws ever closer, the State of Qatar will be gearing up to welcome key operations and event delivery personnel, volunteers, delegates, commercial partners of FIFA, broadcasters, players, coaching staff and hundreds of thousands of fans hoping to cheer on their teams to glory!Event laws often include provisions to facilitate the smooth entry and exit into the relevant host country of such key personnel. This may include relaxation of visa and other entry requirements, expedited processes for issuance of visas and/or exemptions to the normal process for acquiring such, such as no requirement to apply for a work permit. Host countries will often be expected to couple visa changes with amendments to existing employment legislation to ensure exemptions for all who are working on delivery of the event, so they are not caught by the applicable framework whilst residing in the host country, such as in respect of working hours and termination of employment.These changes to the rules will often be linked to a window of time before and after the event, to ensure that all relevant parties can also exit the host country once the event has concluded, without need to comply with normal practice.
Given the number of people involved in delivering the event and those helping to make it a magnificent spectacle, if a host country does not implement event laws in this area and also has an existing complicated framework for entry and exit, this will undoubtedly be marked against such country during analysis of the bids received for the event.
Much like the entry and exit of key people involved, rights holders will also request that the rules in respect of entry and exit be relaxed in respect of the movement of goods required in and around the event. To deliver an event of the magnitude of the FIFA World Cup, a vast number of materials and equipment must be imported into the host country prior to the event and exported after its conclusion. Rights holders will expect that duties are not levied on such imports/exports and all clearances are expeditated.
Consider a broadcaster who has paid a substantial fee to the rights holder for the exclusive right to show the event in their territory, but there is an issue at the border and the broadcaster is prevented from or charged a huge duty for importing its OB truck or key production equipment and so cannot produce its programming around the event.
The broadcaster would be in breach of its obligations to the rights holder, the event will not have any exposure in the broadcaster’s territory and a painful dispute could ensue. Or a commercial partner who has paid generously for the right to be associated with the event but cannot import any of its activation material. Again, this could result in a dispute between the rights holder and the commercial partner over non-delivery of rights.
Rights holders will want to ensure the process for movement of goods is as smooth as possible through event laws and again, unwillingness to implement such or complex requirements will not be favourable against a prospective host.
Most rights holders and relevant commercial partners will already have wide protections for their intellectual property; however, the host country will likely be required to implement legislation to provide additional protections to intellectual property rights and allow for robust enforcement in the event of any infringement of such rights within the host country.
Event laws also often include additional commercial protections in and around host venues, such as public spaces protection orders. In order to effectively implement a rights protection programme for its own intellectual property rights and those of its key commercial partners, rights holders will oblige hosts to enact legislation which increases the commercial perimeters around host venues and other key zones such as accessways to and from such venues, fan zones or public viewing areas, so the rights holder and its commercial partners are free to exploit their rights in these areas and to ensure they also have more protection against, and additional powers to act against, ambush marketing or unauthorised association to the event and to prevent the saleof counterfeit products.
Commercial partners of rights holders pay huge sums of money to be associated with the event and validly use event branding, so it is imperative that laws are enacted to deter brands from trying to gain unauthorised advantage and facilitate quick shut down of any such attempts.
Rights holders will want to ensure that the rights holder itself and all those key workers involved in the delivery, including the participating sports persons, commercial partners and broadcasters, some of whom will be present in the host country for months (if not years) prior to the opening day of the event, do not become subject to taxation under the existing regime of the host country. As such, exemptions and/or amendments to labour laws and taxation laws will expected in respect of all those involved in or around the event.
As sports events grow in scale and complexity, moving forward, any country considering hosting an event must be willing to commit to and ensure it is able to enact all necessary event laws to make their bid more attractive to the awarding decision maker.
For clients who are considering bidding to host an event, our teams have a wealth of knowledge across these areas, from reviewing the bid documentation and interpretation of the requirements, understanding all the requisite agreements that will need to be agreed to facilitate the staging of the event, such as hosting agreements or procurement of services arrangements and assisting with the interpretation and implementation of any necessary event specific laws. For those clients who have acquired commercial rights and need help to interpret the event laws that they can rely on, we are well placed to advise on how to navigate the nuances of such, to make activation as efficient as possible.
For further information,please contact Neil Morgan.
Published in October 2022
