Business law and sports

¶ … FIFA wanted to increase compliance with its regulations and pursue investigations where players insult each other under FIFA Disciplinary Code Article 54. How would you advise FIFA to accomplish this?

A story occurred in July 2006, where Zinedine Zidaine, a hugely popular French football player butted his competitor during the World Cup match in Berlin. Zidaine won and was acclaimed as a hero in his country but, within two days of the World Cup final, FIFA announced that disciplinary proceedings against Zidaine had begun and that his action could not go unnoticed. FIFA's president announced that Zidaine may have to return the Golden Ball award. The roots of the problem, however, were not so clear: Zidaine's opponent, the Italian Materazzi had taunted Zidaine on his roots and family and had insulted him (Babson). The FIFA Disciplinary Code Article 54 prohibits players from insulting one another. Insults often lead into violence and cannot be ignored. Zidaine may not have been as guilty as portrayed. FIFA had to take Materazzi's insult into consideration, too.

Partially as result of the march, FIFA passed new regulations to control contemptuous behavior of one player to another. Sanctions were the following:

Article 55, paragraph 1 & #8230; stipulates a match suspension of five matches at every level of football as well as a stadium ban and a minimum fine of CHF 20,000 for any act or expression of a discriminatory and/or contemptuous nature. If an official commits such an offence, the fine will be CHF 30,000. (FIFA.com)

Furthermore, if the contemptuous behavior was linked to a particular team:

Three points will automatically be deducted from that team for the first offence. In the case of a second offence, six points will be deducted, and after a further offence, the team will be relegated. In the case of matches played without points being awarded, the team in question will be disqualified. (ibid)

FIFA was emphatic on following up on their rules immediately.

In their 2011 code, FIFA elaborated describing a hierarchy of punishment.

Both natural and legal persons are punishable by the following sanctions:

a) warning;

b) reprimand;

c) fine;

d) Return of awards. (Section 10)

The severity of the punishment apparently ranges according to the severity of insult, the time when committed, and whether the insult was perpetrated by one individual or was of group origin. Punishment varies accordingly.

As described in the FIFA Disciplinary Code (2011), punishment for contemptuous behavior (in this specific case, one player insulting another) ranges from the least severe consequences of warning (as first instance) to reprimand, caution (yellow card), suspension (for two cautions) (Section 17) and expulsion from field (Section 18) and competition (Section 20), penalization, fine (CHF 30,000), and lastly return of reward.