Condon v Basi [1985] 1 WLR 866 Court of Appeal

The Claimant suffered a broken leg during a tackle from the Defendant during a football match. The Claimant was playing for Whittle Wanderers and the Defendant for the Khalso Football Club. Both clubs were in the Leamington local league. The question for the court was the standard of care expected of a football player.

Held:

The standard of care varies according to the level of expertise the player has. The Defendant was in breach of duty as the tackle was reckless even with regards the standard expected of a local league player. Whilst a participant can be taken to accept the risks of injury inherent to such sporting activities they do not accept the risk of injury which occurs outside the rules of the game.

 Sir John Donaldson MR:

The standard is objective, but objective in a different set of circumstances. Thus there will of course be a higher degree of care required of a player in a First Division football match than of a player in a Fourth Division football match.

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