Chapter 1. Introduction to Commonwealth Caribbean Sports Law

• Pages: 1-13

1.1 SPORT IN CARIBBEAN SOCIETY

Michael Malec has described sport as a social phenomenon.1 In his study of baseball, basket-

ball, cricket, football and horse racing in Barbados, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Jamaica,

Trinidad and Tobago, St Vincent and the Grenadines, he concludes that organized sport has

economic, political, religious and educational implications.2 The multi-dimensional nature of

Commonwealth Caribbean sport described by Malec mirrors, to some degree, the five-pronged

functions of sport described in the 2007 European Model of Sport, namely, its social, educa-

tional, cultural, public health and recreational functions.3

No Caribbean sport underscores this fascinating interconnectedness like West Indies

cricket. In this connection, Malec holds that the study of West Indies cricket must begin with

cultural studies.4 Notably, it is this very West Indies cricket that has provided the Caribbean

region with a growing body of sports arbitration law, not suciently developed to be coined its

own lex sportiva, but certainly raising legal issues of profound regional relevance.5

The capacity of sport to foster national pride is not unique to the Commonwealth Carib-

bean. Yet, the small populations and the tight-knit societies within the region magnify sport’s

impact in these territories. For this very reason, no matter how poorly a particular athlete

or team from the region performs, supporters’ heartstrings remain closely tied to their sport-

ing heroes. This connection, in turn, motivates athletes to avoid ethical controversies, in gen-

eral, for fear of the social backlash that will be felt, similar to the deep-rooted impact of the

ball-tampering scandal that rocked the cricketing world and the wider Australian society in

March2018. It is in such a context that sport is played in the Caribbean. An equally salient

consideration for the practice of sport in the region is its legal backdrop.

1.2 DEFINING SPORT

Sport has been defined in the 2013 Jamaica National Sport Policy as:

[a]ll forms of physical activities that contribute to physical fitness, intellectual and economic

well-being, as well as social interaction, such as play, recreation, organized or competitive sport,

indigenous sport and games.6

The emphasis on the word ‘physical’ in the aforementioned definition may bring discomfort

to the masterminds of chess, scrabble, dominos and all fours, but such an approach is by no

means surprising. Before the completion of its 2017–2027 National Sports Policy, Trinidad

1 Michael Malec, The Social Roles of Sport in Caribbean Societies (Psychology Press, 1995) 7.

2 Ibid 3.

3 European Commission, ‘White Paper on Sport’ (COM(2007) 391 final).

4 Ibid 14.

5 These arbitral awards in the context of West Indies cricket will be discussed further in Chapter2.

6 ‘White Paper on The National Sport Policy’ (Ministry Paper No. 29/13, Oce of The Prime Minister,

March2013) [3.2] quoting the definition from the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Sport for

Development and Peace.

CHAPTER 1

INTRODUCTION TO COMMONWEALTH

CARIBBEAN SPORTS LAW