When damages are suffered while practicing a sport, during a sport competition or a sport event, we have the right to seek compensation whether we are professional athletes or amateurs, referees or events co-operator, a spectator or simply a passer-by.
The risk which may arise from this type of activity or sport events makes the organisers guarantors for the safety of all the which must be controlled by limiting them strictly to sports.
Most of the enquiries I receive relate to prevention, though this is not always the case:
- What type of risk does each participant have in a competition? Are they the same risks whether there is physical contact or not?
- What type of precautions should we demand when practising a sport? What if it is a fighting sport? And if it is only an exhibition?
- What risks should an athlete NOT accept responsibility for when practising a high-risk sport? Why do we say that in a high-risk bilateral sport there is a reciprocal acceptance of responsibility? Why do we say that in a high-risk bilateral sport there is a narrowing of the negligence concept? What risks does an athlete take when practising a high-risk sport?
- Is the ball boy taking a risk at a tennis match?
- Is the referee taking a risk at a football match?
- Is the person who is not involved in the sport activity (known as the passer-by victim) taking a risk?
- What level of precautions is required
from the instructors and sports monitors? Who is responsible for a deficiency in the sports facilities?
- Who should take responsibility for disorders caused by the lack of diligence or prevention which occur in a sports stadium? Is the spectator at risk in the event of a sports avalanche? Is the spectator at risk of suffering damages caused by violence from another spectator? Are spectators at risk from the instruments used by athletes (balls, racquets, discs) or, even, by the athletes themselves (shoving)?
In the event of claiming for damages caused by an accident and, especially, to guarantee the feasibility, it is necessary to act quickly and to take the correct measures. For that reason, we recommend that our clients follow some basic, preparatory rules that, undoubtedly, should be guided and supervised by an expert in the field:
- Collection of evidence
- Communication of the accident
- Reliable Advice
Monedero Abogados is a firm with nearly 25 years experience in the legal world, Masters in Tort Law, and members of the Law Association of Madrid, the Law Association of Málaga, the Spanish Association of Lawyers specialised in Public Liability and Insurance, the Association of Lawyers for Victims of Public Liability
