THE GAME PLAN:

A RESEARCH PROPOSAL ON HOW IMPOSING LEGAL LIABILITY AGAINST

PLAYERS AND COACHES IN CONTACT SPORTS CAN MITIGATE INJURIES
CAUSED BY NEGLIGENCE OR INTENTIONAL TORTS

MARK DAVID DACULA

I. INTRODUCTION

In a game between rivals San Miguel Beermen and Purefoods Hotdogs in

1989, a scary scene shocked die-hard basketball fans. Avelino Borromeo

“Samboy” Lim, Jr., a Hall of Famer shooting guard playing for the Beermen,

suffered a horrible injury which most basketball fans and analysts would

consider one of the worst injuries in Philippine Basketball Association’s long

history.

The Purefoods Hotdogs, headed by Alvin Patrimoño, Jerry Codiñera and Jojo

Lastimosa, were trailing most of the game but they were able to gain some

momentum in the fourth quarter. The game was already heated since the start,

as expected from two teams who considered each other as rivals. The

physicality was intense as both teams wanted to win badly. In the closing

minutes of the game, Lastimosa tried to shoot from mid-range but he was

blocked by Yves Dignadice, the playing center for the Beermen. Samboy Lim

picked up the ball after the block and as he was about to dribble the ball, he

was hit on the face by Lastimosa. The referees called a deliberate foul against

the latter. The fans were exhilarated as the head to head game became more
intense. But everybody became silent and in shock after what they saw to

Samboy Lim.

It was the Beermen’s possession. Samboy Lim drove hard to the basket,

faked Jojo Lastimosa, flew in the air with the ball in his right hand, double

pumped under the outstretched arms of Nelson Asaytono and Jerry Codiñera

who were trying to block his shot but Jojo Lastimosa clotheslined him and

grabbed him by the shoulders. The hard hit to Samboy’s head by Lastimosa

caused his body to lose control and went flying upside down hitting his head

first then shoulder on the hardwood floor. Blood spilled from Samboy’s face. He

was taken out in a stretcher and rushed to Makati Medical Center. He had a

cut in his forehead that needed 18 stitches outside and 8 stitches inside to

close up.1 He also suffered a concussion, a mild traumatic brain injury (TBI). It

can occur after an impact to your head or after a whiplash-type injury that

causes your head and brain to shake quickly back and forth.2 Concussion is

one of the most dangerous injuries to players in any sport.

Most fans that were present on the game and witnessed the incident would

say that it looked like a career-ending injury. Some would even tag it as the

worst fall of a player in PBA history. But surprisingly, he managed to recover

from such injury and played after days of recuperation.

1
Joble, R. (2018, May 1) 3 inspiring PBA stories of players who returned from career-threatening injuries. Retrieved
from https://www.foxsports.ph.

2
Luo, E. (2017, March 15) Concussion. Retrieved from https://www.healthline.com.
 Samboy Lim was one of the PBA’s 25 Greatest Players. His devil-may-care

attitude made him more endeared to the fans. He was well-known as “The

Skywalker” because he could glide himself in midair, suspend his shot and

come up with a spectacular play that usually sent the crowd into a deafening

roar.3

That gruesome injury could’ve ended Samboy Lim’s career or worse, his life.

The injury he suffered is a notable example of the danger of sports, especially

contact sports such as basketball. Injuries are commonplace in sports; some

say it is even inherent in sports. But when does the infliction of injuries cross

the legal line and give rise to legal liability? In this case, was Jojo Lastimosa

liable? Was his coach liable too?

II. BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Sports have been a big part of the culture of the Filipinos. Every time Manny

Pacquiao has a fight, the whole nation would unite to support him. When the

national men’s basketball team, Gilas Pilipinas ended the Korean curse in the

2013 FIBA-Asia Championships to advance to its first World Championship

appearance in four decades, avid basketball fans broke down in tears. The love

for sports of the Filipinos is also evident in the collegiate level. The rivalry

between the Ateneo Blue Eagles and De La Salle University is always much

3
Joble, R. (2018, May 1) 3 inspiring PBA stories of players who returned from career-threatening injuries. Retrieved
from https://www.foxsports.ph.
anticipated by fans. Such rivalry even reached the sports pages of The New

York Times in 2007.4

Filipinos play different kinds of sports but basketball is the biggest in the

country. The country’s love for the game is evident in Rafe Bartholomew’s book

Pacific Rims where he talks about how the Philippines has embraced the game

in practically every aspect of the Philippine culture.5

In contact sports like basketball, injuries are inevitable. It is almost inherent

to the sport because of its nature. The history of Philippine sports is not all

about triumphant victories. It also had its fair share of dark times where

Filipinos witness players suffer from gruesome injuries just like what happened

to Samboy Lim. Some of these injuries are results of accidents or inadvertent

actions by other players. But, it cannot be denied that few are caused by

negligence, intentional tort or reckless disregard of the safety rules by a player.

To say that a study of sports and its relation to torts law is irrelevant is

turning a blind eye to the country’s love of sports—and the dark side that

comes with it. While the Philippines might not have a sports industry as

developed as that of the United States, one needs only to look at the hoopla

and fanfare surrounding sports to see that sports is just as well-received in the

4
Bartholomew, R. (2007 Sept. 23). A Nation’s Passion Lives in a Rivalry of Green vs. Blue, N.Y. TIMES. Retrieved
from http://www.nytimes.com.
5
Bartholomew, R. (2010). Pacific Rims: Beermen Ballin’ in Flip-flops and the Philippines’ Unlikely Love Affair with
Basketball
Philippines as in any other country. Furthermore, the very nature of sports as

competition, its hold on society’s psyche, and the underlying business and

monetary interests nowadays have raised the stakes in sports.6

Today, the Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) is imposing sanctions

and fines against players if it is proven that they have committed deliberate

wrongful actions on the court. A recent example is the suspension of Calvin

Abueva of the Phoenix Pulse because he clotheslined the Talk n’ Text import

Terrence Jones.7 Such sanctions and fines are also the way of other league

associations in other sports to mitigate intentional torts in games.

There has been no case in the Supreme Court where a player asked for

recovery or filed a civil action against another player for an injury suffered

caused by negligence or intentional tort. The lack of such jurisprudence is an

evident manifestation that there are no sufficient statutes regulating such

incidents.8 Some would argue that players know and understand the risk and

that they have consented themselves to such risk. But, as the Philippine sports

progress, Filipino fans hope not to see and experience dark times anymore.

6
Ingles, I. (2016). Philippine Sports Torts: Adopting a Standard of Care for Sports Competitions and Establishing
Vicarious Liability for Professional Coaches (pg. 7)
7
Terrado, R. (2019, June 2). Calvin Abueva joins ejected list for clothesline on Terrence Jone. Retrieved from
https://www.spin.ph.
8
Ibid., 5.
 III. RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Whether a legal liability can be imposed against a player who caused an

injury to another through negligence or intentional tort?

2. Whether a coach can be held liable for the deliberate acts of his players?

3. How can the possible imposition of legal liability in contact sports

mitigate negligence and intentional torts?

IV. SCOPE AND LIMITATIONS

The research will focus on determining the possible legal liabilities of players

and coaches in cases of injuries caused by deliberate acts. It also aims to

determine if the liabilities imposed by league associations to players

committing intentional torts are enough to mitigate such wrongful acts.

Furthermore, it ultimately seeks to know the effects of the existence of legal

liabilities in contact sports in mitigating intentional torts.

The research will also delve into the assumption of risk as whether it is an

absolute valid defense of players causing injury to another through negligence

or intentional tort.

V. RESEARCH METHOD

The research will utilize the doctrinal method of research, a research that

has been carried out on a legal proposition or propositions by way of analysing

the existing statutory provisions and cases by applying the reasoning power.9

The data for the research will be gathered from existing case studies and

jurisprudence from the United States of America involving cases of negligence

and intentional torts in sports. The research will also examine existing statues

in the Civil Code of the Philippines such as Article 2176 which talks about civil

liability from negligent acts and Article 2180 which tackles vicarious liabilities.

Data will also be gathered from the different league associations governing

major contact sports in the country.

VI. PURPOSE AND SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

Without a set standard, injured players in the Philippines find it difficult to

recover, especially when faced with tort defenses such as the assumption of

risk.10 This research ultimately aims to propose how legal liability imposed

against players committing negligence and intentional torts to cause injury to

another can mitigate cases and incidents of gruesome and possible life-ending

injuries just like what happened to Samboy Lim.

This research seeks to provide a safety net for professional athletes in such

instances. Furthermore, this can increase the diligence of coaches and other

managing personnel on how to supervise players especially those who have

history of committing negligent deliberate acts.

9
(2015, Mar. 16) Doctrinal and Non doctrinal Research. Retrieved from https://www.bartleby.com.
10
Ingles, I. (2016). Philippine Sports Torts: Adopting a Standard of Care for Sports Competitions and Establishing
Vicarious Liability for Professional Coaches (pg. 5)
 The recovery of Samboy Lim from the gruesome injury was almost a miracle.

That injury could have ended his career and fans would have not witnessed his

legacy. But it’s not all the time that miracles happen so we have to initiate

actions that would prevent such incidents in happening again.