NEGLIGENCE?

I went to watch a football match. There were no seats to sit on.  The people stood around the soccer ground to watch the game. One of the players kicked the ball very hard which  hit me on the face very badly. People had to call an ambulance and I was taken to hospital. I lost a week’s work. I know the player who kicked the ball. Can I sue him to recover all the expenses he caused me?

 

To sue the player you would have to establish whether there is a legal relationship between the player and yourself. There are certain tests to apply but one of them is, does the player or the owner of the soccer field owe you a duty of care? The owners of the soccer field and the player would be advised that you attended the soccer game on the basis of ‘voluntary assumption of risk’ – meaning that by attending the soccer game and by standing so close to the playing area, you had notice and it was foreseeable that you could be injured by some remote incident – and you voluntarily took that risk. You’d be unlikely to succeed in any claim against the player or the owners of the soccer field.