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With world football focused on the continuing disruption caused by COVID-19, attention has (for now) been diverted away from a series of regulatory reforms concerning football agents which were approved by the FIFA Council in October 2019.

Many of us are looking forward to the end of the COVID-19 lockdown and the return to attending live sporting events, concerts, etc. Even though you will be able to attend events in person, chances are you will purchase your tickets online, or, if that fails, through a ticket broker.

According to the Shanghai Xinhua News Agency, the Shanghai Second Intermediate People’s Court handed down a first instance decision on 30 December 2020 in favour of Michael Jordan against Qiaodan Sports Company and Bairen Trading Company (both Chinese local companies) in respect of infringement of Michael Jordan’s name rights.

Anyone who has studied the law of delict since 1951 is aware of the English case of Bolton v Stone which found that hitting a cricket ball out of a cricket ground is an incidence of the game and did not amount to negligence so that the passer-by injured by the ball could not sue for damages.