Case against FIFA for failure to change “laws of the game” dismissed with prejudice.

A U.S. judge has ruled that youth soccer players’ suit, alleging that various organizations failed to provide adequate concussion management, failed to state a negligence claim because they did not show a breach of a legal duty or any injury. The court opined that the plaintiffs cannot use the courts to change FIFA’s “laws of the game,” noting it was the plaintiffs’ decision to play soccer. The plaintiffs acknowledged that injuries were a part of soccer. The court found that “[t]hose who participate in a sporting activity that poses an inherent risk of injury, generally assume that they may be injured while doing so.” The court also found that FIFA was not a proper defendant and that there was no connection between the sport’s governing body in Switzerland and soccer in California.

_{Case Law Alerts, 1st Quarter, January 2016}

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