Watson v. British Boxing Board of Control Ltd [2001] 2 WLR 1256, EWCA
Citation: Watson v. British Boxing Board of Control Ltd [2001] 2 WLR 1256, EWCA
Rule of thumb 1: If there is not sufficient emergency medical support at a sports event, as set by association rules, is this a claim against the organisers? Yes, if there are any rules which have been set out by associations, the Council licensing the event, statute etc, which state that something must be done at the event and it is not, and it causes an injury or makes an injury worse, then that is a claim.
Rule of thumb 2: What happens if there is not a doctor on hand to provide emergency treatment to a boxer? Depending on the people who licensed the event, this might be a claim for personal injury.
Judgment:
Michael Watson, a boxer, sustained brain damage in a professional boxing match against Chris Eubank Sr. This fight was governed by rules established by the British Boxing of Control. The Boxing Board had rules that had to be followed for medical care but these were not complied with – for example 2 doctors were meant to be present at all times and it took 7 minutes for a doctor to arrive after Watson finally collapsed on the ground. It was held that there was a link between these medical failures and the injuries sustained by Watson – Watson consented to the risk of injury – ‘Volenti non fit injuria’ - but he only did so when being properly chaperoned with doctors looking out for his well-being at all times in accordance with the boxing board rules, and this did not happen. The Boxing Board was held liable due to the extremely careless nature of the medical supervision that it provided to Watson, ’Not merely a measure of control, but complete control over and a responsibility for a situation which would be liable to result in injury to Mr Watson if reasonable care was not exercised by the Board’ Lord Phillips MR at 87
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