There’s no law requiring anyone to sing the national anthem. This isn’t North Korea, after all. But the confected outrage has a sinister subtext.
On the Saturday of the Cape Town Test in 2018, Cameron Bancroft was filmed comically shoving sandpaper into his underpants. Within days, he, Steve Smith and Dave Warner were banned.
Other sports have recognised that a one-match ban can be a disproportionately severe punishment depending on the match in which it is served. The problem is easily solved.
Risks associated with brain trauma represent an existential risk to collision and combat sports. But from a legal perspective, the current evidence is not yet watertight.
The five Sydney Swans players stood down for breaching club standards have, frankly, been hung out to dry.
Rather than asking their player to sign a secret ‘liability waiver’ assuming responsibility for future on-field head injuries, the Cats could – and should – have sat him down for a tough conversation.
The alleged actions of Brian Devine were audacious and quite possibly against the laws of the game, but the pile-on without due process has been hard to stomach.
The number of top-tier races in Australia greatly exceeds that of many other high-profile racing jurisdictions.
The ABC told the story of Nick Lowden, who at 23 became the youngest AFL footballer diagnosed with CTE. One expert argued children under 18 should be banned from playing the game.
A refusal to register Israel Folau on “fit and proper person” grounds might struggle to survive a legal challenge. The governing body has, after all, waved players back into the game after real criminal conduct.
