Edition
3/2000
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Grounds
for Litigation
The problems which have been experienced with the playing surface of the new Colonial
Stadium in Melbourne have been well documented, with the transfer of the AFL match St
Kilda V's Hawthorn to the MCG being necessary due to the surface being unsuitable for
use. Critical to this decision was the safety of participants, but it is not only
physical safety which is a consideration in these matters; legal safety also gives cause
for concern.
In what is
believed to be the first time an AFL player has been compensated by the league after
taking a case to court over an injury sustained whilst playing, former Australian football
star Phil Krakouer received $90,000 in an out of court settlement with the AFL, MGC Trust
and his former club, North Melbourne.
Krakouer
severely injured his left knee in July 1989 when he was running for the ball in a game at
the MCG against Fitzroy when his feet became stuck in the mud. His career then
declined. The $90,000 payout was compensation for pain and suffering and future
economic loss. |
|
Krakouer's
barrister, Mr Dyson Hore-Lacy QC said the result would send out a warning to all sports
administrators that they carried the same responsibility as any employee to provide a safe
workplace. "The lesson is that all sporting organisations should be
insured", Mr Hore-Lacy said. "If they continue to provide unsafe surfaces
they'll continue to get sued."
In another
incident, it was reported in February 1999 that former Carlton AFL forward Luke O'Sullivan
was suing the AFL and the Blues over a serious knee injury he suffered at Waverley
Park. O'Sullivan's knee buckled under the shifting Waverley Park surface in the
Foster's Cup game against Footscray on March 13th, 1993. He had his right knee
reconstructed after the incident, which at the time was blamed on the condition of the
ground.
In
O'Sullivan's statement of claim he alleged the AFL:-
provided a
playing surface which constituted a tripping or stumbling hazard
failed to
provide an adequate playing surface
carried out
works to the playing surface as to render it unstable
arranging
for the playing of football on a surface it knew or ought to have known was unsafe for
playing football
failed to
notify O'Sullivan that the surface was unsafe for playing football
failed to
advise or warn O'Sullivan of the dangers posed by the unstable surface
....Continued page 2 |
