Coaches and selectors who select violent players and encourage their style of play by continually selecting them and giving them no warning to stop their activities might be considered to be aiding and abetting. Players do not impliedly consent to dangerous or violent conduct outside the normal occurrences of the game. This can vary across jurisdictions but, for example in Queensland, a person cannot consent to grievous bodily harm (because an assault is not an element of that offence, and consent is not otherwise mentioned in it (s 320 Criminal Code). While consent negates what might otherwise constitute a common assault, there are levels of serious assault in which the applicability of the criminal law does not rely on a lack of consent ( s 246(2) Criminal Code). By contrast, a rule infringement in the form of a punch to an opponent’s head may be considered outside of a what a player has consented to.Ĭriminal liability could also extend to a coach, as an accessory to an assault, if it could be shown that the coach encouraged or instructed their player to illegally injure an opponent. in breach of the rules), this would not revoke the implied consent of the attacking player to be tackled, because this type of rule infringement is a regular occurrence in rugby league. In a game of rugby league, players expect to be physically tackled, even where a defending player tackles an opponent from an offside position (i.e.

Players consent to the normal occurrences that are to be expected when playing the game, even if these actions are breaches of the rules of the game. However, consent of the victim plays a very important part in determining whether or not a criminal offence has been committed. loss of a body part/organ, serious disfigurement or injuries that, if left untreated, might cause permanent injury to health or endanger life).Īny application of force to another person, regardless of whether injury results, is potentially an assault (s 245 Criminal Code Act 1899 (Qld) (Criminal Code)). For example, a punch in the heat of a football game may result in injuries the law calls ‘actual bodily harm’ or even ‘grievous bodily harm’ (e.g.

Sporting rules, however, never displace society’s rules, particularly the criminal law. The rules of any sport may determine what is acceptable conduct for the purpose of that sport. Last updated 25 October 2021 Violence in sport and offences against the athlete

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