Criminal Liability in Qatari Sports Law
Dr. Aisha Jamal Al-Ammari
Assistant Professor of Criminal Law
& Head of Public Law Department
College of Law, University of Qatar
Abstract:
With the increasing awareness of societies of the importance of sport, and its role in creating healthy and effective societies, it has become imperative for the legislator to set legal frameworks that regulate issues related to all sports, because sport is an essential pillar of the nation’s personality, and interest in it is reflected in all aspects of life in society, economically and socially. With the increasing interest in sports, we notice that it has become practiced according to professional principles. It is cared for and supervised by a government institution. In order to develop it and set rules for its practice, and supervise its establishment at the national, continental and international levels. The State of Qatar has been a pioneer in the field of sports. As it sought to establish laws and legislations that regulate the practice of sports activity in all its forms, including: Law No. 1 of 2016 regarding sports clubs, and the Emiri Resolution No. 16 of 2014 regarding specifying the competencies of ministries, the Emiri Resolution No. 7 of 2016 about the organizational structure of the Ministry of Culture and Sports, and many other legislations related to this subject.
Accordingly, this research paper addresses the problem raised by criminal liability in Qatari sports law seeking to establish it and to determine the adequacy of the legislative texts contained in these laws and regulations to determine the criminal responsibility of persons who commit any of the crimes mentioned in these laws. To address this problem, the research presents what sports law is, its importance, characteristics, and sources, and discusses the conditions for criminal liability and its scope in Qatari sports law, defining its forms, and the penalties resulting from violating it.
The research paper adopted the descriptive and analytical approach to study the criminal liability resulting from violating sports legislation in the State of Qatar and concluded that it can be said that there is a branch of law that is sports law, given the characteristics that distinguish it from other branches of law. As its rules are mixed with the branches of public law and private law, it also includes diverse topics due to the diversity of sources, and that its rules are not included in a single code, in addition to being distinguished by its flexibility and speed to keep pace with everything new in the field of sporting activity, as it concluded that the Qatari legislator issued many legislations which regulate crimes committed in the sports field.
The paper recommended that the Qatari legislator issue legislations that include the legal model for sports crimes, and links sports law with criminal texts by reconsidering some paragraphs of the Penal Code, which helps create fertile ground for the emergence of general sports legislation that covers every sports activity within the State of Qatar. It also recommended the establishment of an international sports court under the supervision of the International Federation of the Football Association (FIFA), in which criminal penalties would be applied to every club or player who commits crimes or violations for which he will be criminally punished while playing international matches.
Keywords: disciplinary regulations, violence in stadiums, stadium crowd riots, doping, and sports court.