Rule of a Sport Rifle Shooting - Essay Example

The governing body for the sport of rifle shooting has a rule to the effect that the target must be of prescribed dimensions and must be acquired from an approved source Undoubtedly, the performance in any sports whether it be accuracy sports or style sports is measured according to certain standards agreed upon by sports bodies and agencies, and sometimes by governments. In “sports that require an accurate aim, such as archery and rifle shooting, can be evaluated by measuring how far the shot finishes from the target” (Neumann & Thomas, 2008, p. 892). In these type of sports, however, standards must be developed on the specifications of the target to create uniformity wherever the sports is held. Hence, the governing body for the sport of rifle shooting has a rule to the effect that the target must be of prescribed dimensions and must be acquired from an approved source. The aim of this paper is to analyse this rule and whether it should be legally challenged before the courts. Overtime the European Union’s involvement with sports particularly with standard setting has been increasing. Borja Garcia of the Loughborough University explored the “origins and development” (2007) of this involvement. Perhaps, the turning point of this involvement was in December 2000 when the “the European Council agreed to grant the social, educational and cultural functions of sport special status within the European Unions (EU) Treaty framework” (Parrish, 2001, p. 188. Garcia further opined that this involvement is “a consequence of actors instrumentalising institutional venues to their own benefit” (Garcia, 2007). Ian Blackshaw observed that through the EU “sport is subject to the ‘acquis communautaire’ – the body of law that has grown up and developed by the Community Institutions, not least the rulings of the European Court of Justice, the guardian of the EC Treaty” (2007). Although the creation of a standard on the dimensions of the target is very sound, restricting the source of the target is bordering on the ridiculous. Too much focus on trivialities can shift the attention from what rifle target shooting means as sports – a measure of marksmanship and skills. Stephen Weatherill, on the other hand, opined that EU’s involvement in the regulation of sports in the European communities is a good thing, but too much is not good either. Specifically, his white paper “sets out a case for EU intervention in sport where this is necessary and helpful, but it accepts that much sporting activity is not usefully the subject of elaborate EU supervision, and it instead recognises the proper role of other public and private actors. And – contrary to the complaints loudly and frequently expressed by those involved in the governance of sport – the Commission is by no means ignorant or dismissive of the value in appropriate circumstances of sporting autonomy” (2007). A possible argument on the legal challenge on the imposition of the European Commission to the sports is Article 3 of the Treaty of the European Communities which, according to Garcia, “does not cite sport as a competence of the EU, which means that no authority has been conferred to the EU to develop any kind of policy on sport” (2007). Hence, the presence of sports associations which by themselves determine, for their own sports, the “rules for international competitions and their criteria for membership (amongst other things)” (Burns, 2003, p. 1). Take for example the Airgun Training and Education Organisation which “aims to education, train and promote all aspects of airgun shooting.” However, the European Commission had successfully argued that “economic activities in the context of sport do fall within the scope of EC law, including Articles 81 and 82 EC and internal market freedoms” (European Commission Sport 2008). The Community Courts and the Court of First Instance confirmed this concept. Several cases heard by the ECJ had affirmed and confirmed the economic activity concept, hence whenever a sport activity results to an economic transaction, then such sport can be governed and regulated by the Commission. In regulating sports, the European Commission must not over emphasised the economic activity concept. A lot of sports activities are undertaken not for economic gain, but to foster societal development. Sport is largely a creative process and activity. As politicians increasingly involve themselves to the development of this field, undoubtedly the creativity that is so markedly sports-like will eventually be stifled with the laws, rules and standards that these politicians manage to write on paper. Admittedly, the government having a say on the regulation of sports is logical given the social, educational and cultural impacts of sports, such should not be over done. Regulations, after all, are never a guarantee of fair play (Weatherill, 2003; Weatherill, 2005; Bogusz, 2007). In any legal challenge to the increasing involvement of the European Commission with sports regulations, it is better if the different sports associations band together – create a group – to challenge the laws laid down by the EU or challenge the EU’s very involvement in their sports. A good partner of the rifle shooting sports associations would be that of football. The European Community law had played a “key role in the restructuring of footballs transfer system’ (Caiger & Gardiner, 2000, p. 1). It is interesting to note that a legal challenge on FIFA’s regulations on football players’ agent had been filed and lost. The legal challenge questioned the “restrictions on access to the profession [football] that they brought about were excessive, opaque and discriminatory” (EurActiv.com, 2008). Hence, the “increasing frequency of legal disputes involving sport” (Parrish, 2003, p. 20) has resulted to a “closer academic scrutiny” (Parrish, 2003, p. 20). For now, the only hope that sports has on stemming this increasing intervention is to legally challenge such. According to Weatherill “the Commission’s agenda is broader [than the judiciary’s]. It is not prepared to surrender its concern for the social and educational functions of sport, nor for the preservation of sporting structures and ethics in the face of a changing legal and commercial environment” (2000, p. 150). There is no hope that in the near future the European Commission will realize that it had been spending too much of its time regulating sports rather than managing the EU’s economy. Works Cited Airgun Training and Education Organisation. http://www.ateo.org.uk/. Blackshaw, I. (2007). The EU White Paper and Regulatory Difficulties. World Sports Law Review 5 (10). Bogusz, B. (2007). The regulation of sport in the European Union The Hague: Edward Elgar Publishing. Burns, T. (2003). European Sports Federations: A Critical Review of the Options for Incorporation. Entertainment Law 2 (2): 1-19. Caiger, A. & Gardiner, S. (2000). Professional Sport in the European Union: Regulation and Re-regulation The Hague: Asser Press. EurActiv.com. (2005). Legal challenge to FIFA regulations on football players agents rejected. Retrieved from October 30, 2008, from http://www.euractiv.com/en/competition/legal-challenge-fifa-regulations-football-players-agents-rejected/article-135004. European Commission Sport. White Paper on Sport. Retrieved from November 1, 2008, from http://ec.europa.eu/sport/white-paper/whitepaper112_en.htm. Garcia, B. (2007). From Regulation to Governance and Representation: Agenda-Setting and the EU’s Involvement in Sport. Entertainment & Sports Law Journal 5(1). Retrieved from November 1, 2008, from http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/elj/eslj/issues/volume5/number1/garcia. Neumann, D. & Thomas, P. (2008). A camera-based scoring system for evaluating performance accuracy during a golf putting task. Behavior Research Methods 40 (3): 892-897. Parrish, R. (2001). Sports regulation in the European Union: a new approach? Managing Leisure 6 (4): 187-200. Parrish, R. (2003). The Birth of European Union Sports Law. Entertainment Law 2 92): 20-39. Weatherill, S. (2003). Fair Play Please! Recent Developments in the Application of EC Law to Sport. Common Market Law Review 40: 51-93. Weatherill, S. (2005). Is the Pyramid Compatible with EC Law. The International Sports Law Journal 205 (3-4): 3-7. Weatherill, S. (2000). The Helsinki Report on Sport. European Sports Law 25 (3): 143-154. Weatherill, S. (2007). The White Paper on Sport as an exercise in ‘Better Regulation.’ Retrieved from October 31, 2008, from http://www.sportslaw.nl/categorieen/intro.asp?c_nr=10&l2=#2008-01-15%20/%20The%20White%20Paper%20on%20Sport%20as%20an%20exercise%20in%20%E2%80%98Better%20Regulation%E2%80%99. Read More