Sports Law Links

Each week The Sports Esquires keep track of the sports law headlines so you don’t have to.  This week’s edition covers the stunning FIFA indictments and arrests, Greg Hardy’s suspension, and introduces some new sports law scholarship.

FIFA

• FIFA officials and corporate executives were arrested and indicted on corruption charges.  Sean Dotson and Jean Luc Delpy give you background and explain what happened.  The full Department of Justice indictment.  Swiss officials seized documents as well.  Why FIFA operates the way it does.  New Attorney General Loretta Lynch vows to end the rampant corruption.  Philip Bump discusses the extradition issues.  Michael McCann’s take.  Here’s a neat New York Times organizational chart on the indictments.  The FBI raided CONCACAF’s Miami Beach office as part of the investigation.  Nike becomes a suspected player in the scandal.  It all started as a tax investigation.  How the arrests went down.  What about Sepp Blatter – what’s next?  Blatter was re-elected FIFA president for a fifth term after his opponent stepped out of the race.

NFL

• John Sigety explains why Greg Hardy’s suspension will be reduced. Andrew Brandt agrees.
• The Eighth Circuit upheld the approval of a class action settlement over the NFL’s use of former players’ likenesses.
• Have the players handed Roger Goodell too much authority? Adam Kilgore explores the complex question.
• Darren Sharper pleads guilty to drugging women with the goal of raping them.
• New Orleans judge denies request by the media to open the courtroom in Tom Benson’s mental competency case.
• Plaxico Burress avoids tax evasion charges by saying he forgot to pay.

NCAA

• The NCAA Division I chair does not want O’Bannon appealed to the Supreme Court.
• The University of Illinois has commissioned an independent investigation to review alleged player mistreatment in the women’s basketball program.
• Geoffrey Rapp looks at the NCAA’s institutional control in light of corporate governance law.
• Ronald Katz proposes alternative regulatory schemes for college sports.

Best of the Rest

• The Golden State Warriors and Ticketmaster have filed motions to dismiss StubHub’s antitrust suit over ticket-pricing. The Warriors’ motion to dismiss here.  Ticketmaster’s motion to dismiss here.
• The clock is ticking on the Canadian sports betting bill. Is there a light at the end of the tunnel for legal sports betting?
• Do fans care about doping regulations? The impact of PED suspensions in baseball.