Back in 2004, Ricky Williams, the American football player, left the Miami Dolphins after a third strike for smoking weed and disappeared. He’d had a notable career besides, but this was the capper: He said goodbye to his coach from Hawaii and vanished off the face of the Earth.
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Over 70 former professional rugby players are preparing for legal action against the sport’s governing bodies according to this report.
The group litigation seems to be in its early stages, but World Rugby & Unions will be starting to get twitchy.
THREAD on the key issues 👇🏼
1) Duty of care
Do the governing bodies (World Rugby, RFU, WRU etc) owe players a duty of care in respect of their health and safety? The answer is almost certainly yes (see for example Watson v BBBoC).
2) Breach of duty
Have the governing bodies breached this duty? This is the first of the major hurdles for any litigation.
The question is essentially whether they acted reasonably in the circumstances.
Did they know about the dangers of concussion and fail to act?
Or should they have done more to discover the dangers of concussion but failed to do so?
The NFL case was based on the fact that the NFL knew of the dangers and covered them up. I’d suggest that’s unlikely here. However, it may be that WR/Unions should have done more sooner.
Much will depend upon the state of medical/scientific understanding of concussion at the relevant times.
For example, in the early 80s it may be that there was no indication that concussion might cause long-term complications but, by the early 2000s, there was.
The group litigation seems to be in its early stages, but World Rugby & Unions will be starting to get twitchy.
THREAD on the key issues 👇🏼
Exclusive: Rugby faces group litigation action on concussion | @danscho1 reportshttps://t.co/i246r0c9IS
— Telegraph Rugby (@TelegraphRugby) December 7, 2020
1) Duty of care
Do the governing bodies (World Rugby, RFU, WRU etc) owe players a duty of care in respect of their health and safety? The answer is almost certainly yes (see for example Watson v BBBoC).
2) Breach of duty
Have the governing bodies breached this duty? This is the first of the major hurdles for any litigation.
The question is essentially whether they acted reasonably in the circumstances.
Did they know about the dangers of concussion and fail to act?
Or should they have done more to discover the dangers of concussion but failed to do so?
The NFL case was based on the fact that the NFL knew of the dangers and covered them up. I’d suggest that’s unlikely here. However, it may be that WR/Unions should have done more sooner.
Much will depend upon the state of medical/scientific understanding of concussion at the relevant times.
For example, in the early 80s it may be that there was no indication that concussion might cause long-term complications but, by the early 2000s, there was.
What a year it's been. It hasn't been easy for anyone in 2020, but we've seen @spfl clubs and community trusts across Scotland step up to support those in need.
Let's have a little thread to celebrate 12 months of extraordinary commitment.
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍
/1
We kicked off the year with Football Fans in Training.
#BeYourOwnHero
Alison wasn't actually a @PartickThistle fan (albeit she kinda fell for the Jags with help from her partner). This was her story... 💪🏽
#BeYourOwnHero
Also in January we revealed that @JamTarts would join our @JoyofMovingUK programme, becoming the third club in Scotland to deliver the project to primary schools, across Edinburgh.
In Feb, we revealed @CashBackScot is to fund a new SPFL Trust project with five @spfl clubs / communities trusts to tackle anti-social behaviour.
Off the Bench will feature:
⚪️ @DundeeFCCT
⚪️ @falkirkfcf
⚪️ @bighearts
⚪️@community_mfcct
⚪️
Let's have a little thread to celebrate 12 months of extraordinary commitment.
❤️🧡💛💚💙💜🤎🖤🤍
/1

We kicked off the year with Football Fans in Training.
#BeYourOwnHero
Hero: a person who is admired for having done something very brave, or having achieved something great. #BeYourOwnHero pic.twitter.com/KZ6p0u0dNi
— SPFL Trust (@SPFLTrust) January 10, 2020
Alison wasn't actually a @PartickThistle fan (albeit she kinda fell for the Jags with help from her partner). This was her story... 💪🏽
#BeYourOwnHero
\u25b6\ufe0f Watch | Alison is our latest FFIT hero. She admits she wasn\u2019t even a football fan, but loved the support and camaraderie of our programme. It helped encouraged her to lose four stone!
— SPFL Trust (@SPFLTrust) January 18, 2020
\U0001f501 RT to share
\U0001f44a\U0001f3fc #BeYourOwnHero pic.twitter.com/wWDdsiOesp
Also in January we revealed that @JamTarts would join our @JoyofMovingUK programme, becoming the third club in Scotland to deliver the project to primary schools, across Edinburgh.
In Feb, we revealed @CashBackScot is to fund a new SPFL Trust project with five @spfl clubs / communities trusts to tackle anti-social behaviour.
Off the Bench will feature:
⚪️ @DundeeFCCT
⚪️ @falkirkfcf
⚪️ @bighearts
⚪️@community_mfcct
⚪️