Boateng in court?

Dr. Michael Lehner is a member of the Sports Law Working Group at the German Bar Association. As a lawyer he's represented, among others, professional cyclists Joerg Jaksche and Stefan Schumacher in doping cases.

DW: Michael Ballack will not be able to travel to the World Cup in South Africa. Kevin-Prince Boateng, a national team player for Ghana, injured Ballack with a vicious tackle in England's FA Cup final last weekend. I think that much can be agreed on. But can Ballack really take that incident to a court?

Dr. Michael Lehner: It was a very vicious foul. We all saw it, and these so-called 'horror tackles' have landed in court many times before. There is a precedent of claims for compensation in competitive sports against players who don't play by the rules. I recently represented an ice hockey player who made a successful claim against a player who had excessively body-checked him. That exists in soccer, too. Or course, a player has to put up with normal fouls - those that in the heat of battle are unavoidable, and the injuries that come with that. But a rough foul is also assault. That's not covered by the rules. That is criminally relevant and a claim can be made.

What conditions need to be met in order for Ballack to have a successful case? Does he have to prove wilful intent?

Sport is fair, but hard. That must be accepted. So he would have to prove gross negligence, or 'premeditated intent,' meaning his opponent committed the foul knowing that an injury was possible. And here, you have to look at what the foul looked like, the external appearance. You can't go inside a players head, and from what I read, Boateng said he wanted to play the ball and hit Ballack's leg. But from my experience in sports and seeing what happened, I have no doubt that it should have been a red card for an intentional foul. That means it's also intentional assault. Michael Ballack is hesitant - do I want that? But it might be beneficial for the sport if he would take action.

How common are cases of these 'horror fouls' or similar offences in Germany?

They aren't that common because players are part of a kind of community, even when they play against each other on the pitch. Everyone gets fouled, and everyone gets angry. If I go down this path and open a case for every hard foul, that would get out of hand. But on the other hand, there have to be limits. I think that based on the appearance of the incident, this is about a very brutal foul, and the player can be held accountable. Morally for sure, and this is also about a lot of money. Why should a player get off easy? He might even be insured against this kind of thing. It will be critical to prove intent, but that's the risk a player takes when he fouls.

Under the circumstances, Kevin Boateng will have financial penalties. The Ghanaian is being regarded poorly by the tabloid press and in the internet. He could have problems finding a new club. Could Boateng have a case for libel?

I would consider that pretty far-fetched. I don't feel sorry for him. That's the first thing he has to consider when he commits a foul like that. Even if I don't condone the venom behind what's being said about him, those are general reactions of the public, that's going to happen. A professional soccer player knows that and can't complain about it.

First doping cases were taken to court. Recently Bayern Munich brought Franck Ribery's Champions League red card suspension to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Now judges are making decisions about fouls. Is sport becoming a matter for the justice system?

Sports have their own autonomous set of rules with their own judicial bodies that are designed to keep the ordinary jurisdiction out of it. For the most part, that's good. I'm a fan of self-regulation in sports. But when that's not enough, then the laws of the state have to be applied. And in sports, there have to be procedures and measures of compensation when someone commits a brutal foul like Boateng's against Ballack. It's standard procedure for a person to seek justice when a lot of money is on the line. Sports are deeply anchored in society, whether in doping, good times or bad. Sports reflect society. Why should sports be exempt from legal claims, court rulings or legal conflict?

Interview: Stefan Nestler (mz)
Editor: Ben Knight