Force Majeure

Hurricane Katrina

In this weeks post I will delve into the topic of "Force Majeure" and how this can affect contracts within a sporting context. 

First I will define Force Majeure, and then show how it is applicable and through examples, show how it has been applied previously.

Force Majeure as defined by Fitzgerald and Olivo (2000)is:

• " A major event that the parties to a contract did not foresee or anticipate that prevents performance of the contract and thus terminates the contract; such an event - for example, a natural disaster or war - is outside the control of the parties and cannot be avoided with due diligence."
• Force Majeure is directly translated as: Superior Force, or an Act of God

Essentially Force Majeure is an 'impossibility' that has arisen that stops a party from performing their consideration of the contract.

When can Force Majeure be applied in sport?

When a situation that arises is out of the control of either party than the contract may not be completed. This situation may arise if there is a natural disaster, such as: a hurricane, a war, a flood, a terrorist attack or anything that is completely out of the two partie's control. 

A perfect example that has happened just last week was the terrorist attack that occurred in France. The act of a third party caused an impossibility for teams to perform their contractual duties. 

Another example would be when Hurricane Katrine devastated New Orleans, causing the New Orleans Saints of the NFL to relocate and play in four home games at LSU, three at the Alamodome in San Antonio and one in the Giants stadium in New jersey. This would contractually have broken any sponsorship or partnership agreement that the Saints, where the sponsors or partners signed deals with intentions of having their image shown in New Orlean's home stadium. It was through no fault of either party that the Saints had to relocate and that is where application of Force Majeure plays such an important role. 

Force Majeure is an important clause to include in all sporting contracts because simply, things happen. This is just one way to rectify the issue of having no control of our outer world.

Thanks,

G.M.

Fitzgerald, J., & Olivo, L. (2000). Fundamentals of contract law. Toronto, Canada: Emond Montgomery Publications.