A Silk at the Games

The Olympic Games first made an impression on me in 1980. For all manner of reasons, Daley Thompson was (and remains) my favourite athlete in any sport. Watching the recent BBC documentary about him confirmed all that I had admired as a child: his own man, with confidence born of talent, dedication and preparation and the best. But it was Sebastian Coe not beating Steve Ovett in 800m and his reaction in the 1500m that resonated with me. Forty-four years later Lord Coe and I are guests at same event in Paris. He is about my height, but with a different build and time has been kinder. He looks like he could still run a decent 800m; I’d need an Uber. I am working at the Olympic Games.

This year World Rugby announced my reappointment as independent Judicial Panel Chair to 2027. One of the privileges of that role is the opportunity to work at and be embedded in international rugby tournaments. Rugby World Cups (“RWC”), rugby sevens tournaments and now the Olympic Games. The chance to work at and inside such global sporting tournaments is one open to few.

The Olympic Games Paris 2024 rugby sevens competition comprised men’s and women’s tournaments with 12 teams in each. A total of 288 athletes, 144 men and 144 women, were scheduled to take part, with each team limited to 12 players on the match sheet. Replacements for injured players were permitted later in the respective tournaments. The competition was played in accordance with the World Rugby Laws of the Game and the IOC Olympic Charter.

The competition was held from Wednesday 24 July to Tuesday 30 July 2024. All 68 matches were played at the Stade de France (“SdF”), in Saint-Denis on the edge of Paris. It is the largest French stadium and was built to host the biggest sporting and other events, including football and rugby. As I write, it is home to the athletics. It looks magnificent. Inside and out the stadium, clean of advertising, decorated in the striking Paris 2024 colour scheme is stunning. For the rugby, the deep green pitch was surrounded by a vibrant deep purple ‘carpet’ , a striking and vibrant contrast. Shortly after the women’s final was played during the evening of 30 July, I was in the stadium as it began to be transformed for the athletics. The carpet was soon removed to reveal the stunning purple track beneath.

The individual sports at an Olympic Games are delivered by the respective International Federations (“IFs”) working with a team from the host city. World Rugby, as the International Federation, supplied for the competition the International Technical Officials (“ITOs”). Paris 2024 (as hosts) supplied the National Technical Officials (“NTOs”). The ITOs include the match officials, the anti-doping manager, medical officers and disciplinary personnel. The NTOs, from Paris 2024, include scorers, timekeepers, team flow managers, as well as assistants to the respective teams. Like all IFs, World Rugby has its own additional staff on the ground covering other aspects of delivery, including media and communications. Many are well practised in it, used to delivering the World Rugby HSBC SVNS series around the globe.

I was an ITO and part of the disciplinary team which comprised three Citing Commissioners (“CCs’), a Judicial Officer (Jennifer Lincoln, a lawyer from Ireland), and a Designated Disciplinary Officer (Yvonne Nolan, Senior Counsel from World Rugby). I was the Appeals Officer. The Judicial Officer had primary responsibility for adjudicating upon red card and citings. Part of my role was to hear appeals from her decisions, but also to determine any misconduct or competition disputes.

Flying from my home in Bristol, I arrived in Paris on Sunday 21 July. The invaluable accreditation completed at Orly airport, I was taken to the team hotel close to SdF. The following day involved (the all-important) kit distribution in the morning. Who doesn’t love a bit of merch? The afternoon was spent in the stadium, starting with an induction meeting. The separate teams, with their individual responsibilities for delivering different aspects of the tournament, were introduced and the scale of the operation was clear. The planning and preparation were at an advanced stage. Thereafter, individual teams tested their facilities before reporting back. We repeated the exercise at the stadium the following day. No matter how many times I do it, I cannot suppress the excitement of being within the bowels of a stadium. As an ardent sports fan who never played any sport at any great level, I could not but let my imagination take hold as I walk down the tunnel and look at the surrounding banked stands as I enter the arena.

Each tournament involved thirty-four matches played over three days. Each fourteen-minute-long match has a thirty-minute slot, with the start time fixed. Essential to the smooth running of the competition and each match are the logistics: warm-up, playing, broadcast, officiating, medical and so on. By way of example:

• Playing: there are fixed times for the following: the teams’ arrivals at the stadium; the submission of team sheets; access to warm up pitches; the coin toss; arrival at pre-match holding areas; team entrances to the pitch; and match officials’ pitch entrance. All of that must be managed, for each match, every day. It is the task of ITOs and NTOs to ensure that happens, for each team and every match.
• Broadcast: the pictures, the graphics, the sound, the stadium announcements, the cut aways and play back for tries, foul play and so on must all work, every minute of every match and must be perfect. The analysis and attention to detail of the broadcast director – what to cut to and when and why- was astonishing.
• The on-field match officials are the very best international rugby sevens referees, selected on merit. They are supported by the television match official (“TMO”). There was a single TMO for both tournaments. With the benefit of the excellent Hawk Eye footage the TMO assists with or makes decisions on, for example, foul play or the award of a try. They announce the decision with brief reasons to the referee and spectators simultaneously. Explaining to the public in clear and precise language why a particular act of foul play merits a yellow or red card is an excellent development. It facilitates spectator understanding and engagement.

The final stages of preparation include the playing of a trial match. That enables testing in a match scenario of such systems as the team and match officials’ entrances onto the field of play; the stadium scoring and announcements; and replays and TMO reviews of in-match events such as tries and suspected foul play, both internally and publicly. Thereafter the medal ceremonies were rehearsed. I still did not make the podium.

The rugby started with the men’s competition on Wednesday 24 July. The final quarter-final at 22.30 closed the rugby the following day. That Thursday saw over 130,000 spectators at SdF, a single-day attendance record for rugby. We took a break on Friday 26 for the opening ceremony, to which the World Rugby ITOs were invited. We sat together on the banks of the Seine opposite the Conciergerie. We had a wonderful view of the flotilla and spectacular as their performance was, I have not yet bought Gojira’s latest album (or any of them). Marina Votti and Lady Gaga were epic, as was the tricolore formed from plumes of smoke.

The tournament programme and the teams’ playing schedule imposes strict time pressures on the disciplinary procedure. Hearings arising from citings and red cards tend to be conducted within an hour or so of the end of the respective match: teams need to know the outcome and have time for any appeal before their next fixture.

The team of three citing commissioners divide the matches between them. They view the games live, in the stadium, supported by a Hawk Eye technician. Incidents of interest are identified and clipped ‘live’. Matches are then reviewed immediately upon completion. Teams have a short window a in which to refer any matter they wish to. Citings are brought by way of a report, with footage of the incident from different angles and at full and slow speeds.

We had two hearings, following a citing and a red card, both in the men’s tournament. The first hearing concerned a citing brought for an alleged breach of Law 9.28, which mandates a player must respect the authority of the referees. In this instance, it was alleged that the player deliberately tackled the referee. There was no dispute that the cited player tackled the ball carrier. His case was that, on his knees, looking down, close to his own line and to prevent a quick penalty tap and go, he mistook the referee for the ball carrier and tackled him. He saw just his legs, they were both wearing dark coloured socks and in an instant, he made the tackle. He did not realise until after he did so that he had in fact tackled the referee. The referee did not penalise him and so he was cited. The Judicial Officer accepted the player’s evidence, found the contact with the referee was accidental and so did not amount to foul play. Accordingly, the citing was dismissed.

The red card was issued in the men’s semi-final for a dangerous tackle contrary to Law 9.13. The player was upright in the tackle and his left shoulder made direct contact the ball carrier’s head. By application of the Head Contact Process there was obvious foul play, the head contact was dangerous and there was no mitigation to reduce the red card to a yellow. The TMO explained all of this to the stadium within seconds of his review of the incident. Before me, the player accepted committing foul play which merited a red card and was sanctioned accordingly. It was a straightforward case, the process completed efficiently.

The two cases neatly illustrate important aspects of the judicial part of the rugby disciplinary process. The dismissal of the citing underlined (again) that the rugby judiciary remains independent of the other elements of the process. The red card was a decent example of how the system can and should work. It was also the type of case which, had it occurred in a fifteens match, would be ideally suited to the revised red sanction process, which you can read about here.

Unlike some sevens tournaments, the rugby started mid-afternoon each day. That enabled me to dedicate the mornings to other aspects of my practice, preparing for ongoing football cases, as well as for a murder case due to be tried in the autumn. As you might expect, I also found time for Parisian cafes; wandering through Jarden des Tuileries on a beautiful Sunday morning and marvelling at the Olympics cauldron balloon; and the occasional steak tartare. I also watched Tom Daley and Noah Williams win their silver medals in the fabulous Aquatics Centre before heading back to the SdF.

In the men’s tournament, France, with Antoine Dupont to the fore with a brace of tries, memorably took gold. The joyous and euphoric atmosphere in the SdF was wonderful to behold. France is really one of the best places to watch rugby. The silver medals went to Fiji and bronze to qualifiers South Africa.

Sunday saw the start of the women’s rugby sevens competition in front of a crowd of 66,000, a record for a women’s rugby event, beating the previous record of 58,498 at Twickenham for England v France in 2023. New Zealand triumphed on the final day, beating USA in the final. The bronze medals were won by Canada who defeated Australia in a compelling match. The RWC next year in England will be fantastic.

The figures for the event are staggering. 530,000 came to SdF to witness first-hand the rugby and 11.6 million French viewers watched on television the men’s side triumph in the final. World Rugby Chairman Sir Bill Beaumont described the event thus:

“The Olympics Sevens has truly been a coming-of-age moment for the sport, getting these special Games off to a thrilling start. From France men winning the first gold of Paris 2024, to the incredible atmosphere in a packed Stade de France, it has been breathtaking. The stars have shone brightly. Rugby has reached more people in more nations that ever before on and off the field.”

“We’ve also seen records broken across the board including the opening day of the women’s competition which saw over 66,000 fans descend on Stade de France. Visibility of the women’s game has never been higher and we’re confident we’ve laid a solid foundation for the game to continue to flourish. We have no doubt the women’s game is going to continue to soar.”

Watching a group of individuals, all experts in their respective fields, incorporating others to come together as a team to deliver an international sporting event at an Olympic level is fascinating to observe. To have the opportunity to work in an elite performance environment was as marvellous as it was thrilling. The rugby was good too.

 

Christopher Quinlan KC is a sports law and criminal silk. He appears before and is a highly experienced chair of numerous sporting and disciplinary tribunals. He has led several reviews commissioned by national governing bodies. His sporting appointments include Judicial Panel Chair, Football Association (2019-) and Chair, English Football league Club Financial Review Panel (2023- ).

 

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