Gottfried Heinrich (an airline passenger) took airport authorities to the European Court of Justice after he was prevented from boarding his plane at Vienna-Schwechat airport on 25th September 2005. Airport security officials told him he could not take tennis racquets onto the plane as hand luggage, as they were classed as “prohibited articles” under an unpublished annex to EU regulation 2320/2002 (although tennis racquets were not specifically prevented, there is a catch-all prohibition banning “Bludgeons: Blackjacks, billy clubs, baseball clubs or similar instruments”).
An Austrian administrative court agreed with Mr Heinrich that because that the rules in question had never been published, they were therefore not enforceable against individual passengers. In light of the public importance of the decision, they referred the matter onto the ECJ who also agreed, stating in particular that:
“The principle of legal certainly requires that Community rules enable those concerned to know precisely the extent of the obligations which are imposed on them. Individuals must be able to ascertain unequivocally what their rights and obligations are and take steps accordingly,” [44]
Is it ever acceptable to call somebody a ‘golliwog’? Even as a joke? This was a debate brought up following Carol Thatcher’s comments while relaxing in the Green Lounge immediately after appearing on BBC One’s “The One Show”. The Daily Mail reports that when talking about the recent Australian Open, Carol Thatcher referred to French tennis player Jo-Wilfried Tsonga as “you know, that froggy golliwog guy.”
Despite these remarks apparently being immediately challenged by comedienne Jo Brand and presenter Adrian Chiles, who were in the room at the time, Thatcher refused to offer an unqualified apology, “as she had nothing to say sorry for as it was a light-hearted remark, said in private, which had not been transmitted.” Thatcher later apologised for her remarks to the BBC, but this apology was apparently rejected as not being fulsome enough. Her spokeman also confirmed that, “Carol never intended any racist comments, she made a light aside about this tennis player and his similarity to the golliwog on the jam pot when she was growing up. There’s no way, obviously, that she would condone any racist comment – we would refute that entirely. It would not be in her nature to do anything like that.”
Thatcher has since been sacked from the show, while Tsonga himself has repeatedly refused to be drawn into the row.
Labour politician, Jennette Arnold explains why many people found this comment offensive: “The symbolism of the golliwog is colonialist, racist, and harks back to time when black people were dismissed as slave, servant, and figures of fun. It is an image associated with the demeaning of black people. There are no second chances when anyone in public life uses such offensive language…”
Reuters have reported that: Serena Williams beat Andy Roddick in a one-set contest when they were training together as children in Florida. While both agree that Serena won, they disagree over the actual score (Serena says 6-1, Roddick says 6-4)
Although Roddick has demanded a rematch, Serena says she is too busy!
“A day earlier, Roddick joined in the verbal sparring by claiming Williams only beat him because she was a year older and much bigger than he was at the time. When we were ten, I had to literally run around in the shower to get wet,” he said. “She was bench pressing dump trucks already at that time.”
So girls and boys can play nicely together. It just seems a pity that the rules of a number of some sports suddenly change at 12yrs old and we go to single-sex / team events.
Continuing the television theme, Reuters also reports that: Serbia’s parliament stopped work for two hours Thursday in protest at a decision by state television (RTS) to broadcast the semi-finals of the Australian Open tennis match instead of the latest episode of the legislative session. Apparently, this decision prompted the heads of the main parties, used to having their daily deliberations broadcast live, to stop work for the third time since the start of the tournament until television coverage resumed.
Spaniard, Rafael Nadal, seems to be leading criticism against the procedure adopted by the ATP Tennis Tour, which signed the World Anti-Doping agency (WADA) protocol last year.
“It is not fair to have persecution like that,” Nadal said at the World Indoor Tournament in Rotterdam, “They make you feel like a criminal. Not even my mother knows where I am every day. It is very difficult to know where you are going to be tomorrow especially in a sport like tennis. Sure we want to be an Olympic sport, but I think we don’t want to pay a price like this for an Olympic sport,”
Novak Djokovic said there was no way he could have played on against Andy Roddick after quitting their Australian Open quarter-final because of cramp and “soreness in my whole body”.
Roger Federer said it was “disappointing” that the Serb “gave up” while trailing 6-7 6-4 6-2 2-1 in temperatures hitting 40C on court.
Defending champion Djokovic, 21, has failed to finish seven tour matches, four in Grand Slams. “I always retire with a reason,” he said. “I felt I could not go on.”
Djokovic was not the only player to struggle on Tuesday as Melbourne experiences what is expected to be its most severe heatwave in 100 years. Marion Bartoli later said she had felt the effects of the heat as she lost the final 11 games in her defeat by Vera Zvonareva. The Australian Open has an extreme heat policy which takes into account the temperature as well as humidity. In that situation, no new sets are started on outside courts and the roofs on the main show courts are closed. However, that has not been implemented yet in 2009, despite on-court temperatures topping 40C. Djokovic was the fourth player to pull out of a singles match in two days, although his was the only retirement caused solely by the heat.
“AUSTRALIAN Open referees will ban skimpy outfits after a rising French teenager caused a stir with a see-through top at a tournament Down Under.
Alize Cornet, 18, showed off her curves in a short skirt and low-cut transparent top during a doubles match at the Hopman Cup in Perth. Open officials have since threatened fines of up to $2,000 (£912) for any player caught infringing their strict dress code. Ex-tennis star Margaret Court also condemned Cornet’s attire, insisting it pushed the boundaries of what was acceptable. She said that the skimpy outfits of female tennis players made them “look like they should be on the beach”. “I just don’t think the tennis court is the place to be everything clingy and showing everything,” the Daily Telegraph quoted Court as saying.”
Violence erupted again at the Australian Open Tennis match between Novak Djokovic and Amer Delic. Two people were charged with riotous behaviour and discharging a missile, while a further 30 people were ejected from the ground.
“Delic and Djokovic said they were disappointed with the trouble after their good-spirited match. “I’m really sad to hear about that,” Delic said of the scuffles. “There’s absolutely no place for that here. This is a tennis match. Novak and I are friends. We’re both competitors, obviously. In the end it was a fair match, and there was no reason for such things.”"
It is not the first time that ethnic tensions has led to crowd violence, indeed in both 2007 and 2008, crowd violence erupted between rival spectators prompting police to adopt a hardline presence at the event.
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About Kris
Kris is a Senior Lecturer, and Co-Director of the Centre for International Sports Law (CISL) at Staffordshire University, UK. He originally trained and competed as an elite gymnast until a shoulder injury at university forced him to retire as an active competitor. He now spends his spare time coaching Trampolining, Gymnastics, DMT, Cheerleading, Parkour and anything that involves throwing yourself through the air with various degrees of twist and rotation!
Jon is an Associate Professor, and Co-Director of the Centre for International Sports Law (CISL) at Thompson Rivers University, British Columbia. Jon worked as a climbing guide, trained and coordinated search and rescue, managed risk and sales in the United States with a European-based manufacturer of outdoor equipment and advised recreation programmes on their exposure to legal risk. His extra-curricular background is just as diverse and includes stints playing semi-pro volleyball in Brazil, researching wolves in the Canadian Rockies, climbing and leading expeditions from Alaska to Argentina, Tajikistan to the Tetons, and many points in between. He has been married to Wendy for 15 years and together they have 2 wonderful kids – Tegan (10) and Brock (8) – whom he continues to emotionally scar as their football coach!
Kris is a Senior Lecturer, and Co-Director of the Centre for International Sports Law (CISL) at Staffordshire University, UK. He originally trained and competed as an elite gymnast until a shoulder injury at university forced him to retire as an active competitor. He now spends his spare time coaching Trampolining, Gymnastics, DMT, Cheerleading, Parkour and anything that involves throwing yourself through the air with various degrees of twist and rotation!
Jon is an Associate Professor, and Co-Director of the Centre for International Sports Law (CISL) at Thompson Rivers University, British Columbia. Jon worked as a climbing guide, trained and coordinated search and rescue, managed risk and sales in the United States with a European-based manufacturer of outdoor equipment and advised recreation programmes on their exposure to legal risk. His extra-curricular background is just as diverse and includes stints playing semi-pro volleyball in Brazil, researching wolves in the Canadian Rockies, climbing and leading expeditions from Alaska to Argentina, Tajikistan to the Tetons, and many points in between. He has been married to Wendy for 15 years and together they have 2 wonderful kids – Tegan (10) and Brock (8) – whom he continues to emotionally scar as their football coach!
March 11, 2009
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