ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Maurizio Marullo, Giorgio Vagnoni and Francesco Amoresano, LAWP Studio legale e tributario
ability, athlete well-being, and the safety of all event participants. 3.2 Duty of Care and Liability Organisers’ Duty of Care Event organisers have a responsibility to ensure a safe environment for everyone involved. This includes veri - fying the venue’s suitability for each event and imple - menting appropriate safety measures to prevent harm to attendees, athletes and third parties. If they fail to uphold these duties, organisers may be held liable for breach of contract towards ticket-hold - ers (Article 1218 of the Italian Civil Code) and under tort provisions (Article 2043 of the Italian Civil Code) for damages suffered by the attendees and their belongings during the event, triggering indemnifica - tion obligations. In addition, organisers may be held liable as custo - dians of the venue (Article 2051 of the Italian Civil Code) and, on the occasion of major sports events, they share the same liability provided for those who carry out dangerous activities (Article 2050 of the Ital - ian Civil Code). The burden of proving exemption from liability is par - ticularly steep, as organisers need to: • prove the occurrence of a force majeure event; or • have taken all the necessary measures to avoid damages. Athletes are rarely held liable towards spectators, unless their actions fall outside the reasonably fore - seeable risk deriving from sports activities or unless they deliberately intend to cause harm to a spectator. With reference to organisers’ limitation of liability, when purchasing tickets, it is common to find lim - itation-of-liability clauses on tickets or regulations accepted by spectators, establishing that organisers and their agents are not responsible under certain circumstances; however, under consumer protection provisions, said clauses are always void when limit - ing liability for death and injuries (Article 36.2 of the Consumer Code) and are ineffective in cases of wilful
misconduct or gross negligence (Article 1229 of the Civil Code). Prevention of Violence and Disorder in Football Organisers must also ensure public order and co- operate with law enforcement agents before, during and after the event. Public authorities are also entitled to suspend or cancel an event in the case of riots, disturbance or danger to public safety. In addition, organisers are required to hire an adequate number of stewards in charge of ticket control, spectator recep - tion and support to law enforcement officials during a match. Specifically for football, Articles 25 and 26 of the FIGC Justice Code establish strict liability for football clubs for the unlawful behaviour of their supporters, even during away games. This liability extends to any viola - tions of order and safety rules occurring before, dur - ing and after the event, both inside the stadium and surrounding areas. Further, since 2009, professional football clubs have adopted the so-called Tessera del Tifoso , a member- ship card that is mandatory for all visitor supporters and even for home supporters in matches deemed by the public authority to represent a risk to public order. CONI is a public entity that maintains independence and autonomy from political and governmental bod - ies. National federations are non-profit associations with legal personality under private law made up of clubs, sports associations and – in the cases indicated by their by-laws – individuals. Furthermore, leagues are private law entities whose associates are the clubs that, year by year, take part in the league tournaments. Their main functions are organising competitions, defending the interests of members with respect to the federation and/or other system entities, and providing counsel and support to 4. Corporate Structures 4.1 Legal Forms of Sporting Bodies Sports Institutions and Clubs
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