ABSTRACT
One of the major issues involved in the burgeoning development of sports law in Britain during the last decade has questioned the degree to which the law should get involved in regulating behaviour on the sports field. The debate has revolved around the opposing contentions that 'the law does not stop at the touchline' on the one hand and that the law's intervention is highly problematic on the other. The debate has moved on to attempt to proscribe when and where the law should regulate violent and unacceptable play with a recognition that, due to the competitive nature of contact sports, and especially team sports where physical interaction is pervasive, some test needs to be developed to systemize the law's intervention. Essentially the question is how should violent play be regulated on the sports field when if it occurred in other areas of social life it would not be legally tolerated.
