From the Beautiful Game to Negligence to Homicide: A Brief Legal Analysis of Coronavirus Issues in Belarus
By: Daniel Cermak
Introduction
Coronavirus has brought sports around the world to a screeching halt. From the NBA and the MLB to Wimbledon and UEFA Champions League, it seems like no sport was immune to the effects of the virus.[1] Belarus soccer, on the other-hand, has continued, even in the face of WHO recommendations to ban large gatherings.[2] The continuance of the league has been celebrated by sports fans and gamblers around the world, but is perhaps the most glaring piece of evidence at the lack of action taken by Belarus’ leader Alexander Lukashenko. This paper will briefly go over some of the legal issues surrounding the continuation of the league and hypothetical, theoretical criminal liabilities for leaders who fail to take action against coronavirus.[3]
First, some background. Recently, a match between FC Neman Grondo and FC Belshina featured 253 fans for a club that usually has 1,500 in attendance, but the league is following the lead of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko, who has so far resisted many containment measures.[4] Despite the continuation, FC Grondo’s own supporters group urged fans to stay away, and players applauded the empty stands in recognition of them staying home.[5] The League initially stated that they continued because of the small amount of cases, but after the amount of cases rose to 2,226 cases and 23 deaths, the league has declined comment.[6]
I. Belarus Soccer: Vegas’ Darling, In-House Counsel’s Nightmare
a. Gambling
The first legal consideration is sports gambling. Belarus has become the destination for sports bettors across the world (along with Russian table tennis).[7] With that comes legal considerations. For one, the lack of sports has called into question the implementation of sports betting in many states, a process that seemed to have just taken a foothold in a number of states before the cancellation of every major sports league.[8] The gambling world has rotated to companies that allow for gamblers to gamble on themselves in Madden, NBA 2K and FIFA.[9] The lack of games to bet on means an increase in online gambling largely illegal in most states, and some additional limitations from governments.[10] With the emergence of Belarussian soccer, comes the potential for increased online betting traffic and potential corruption.[11]
B. Negligence
From a legal standpoint, the immediate issue becomes potential civil liability for the continuance of the league. Civil lawsuits have already been filed against cruise ships in the coronavirus context.[12] Two lawsuits are discussed in detail, both alleging that the procedures put into place by the cruise ships did not implement sufficient measures to contain the virus.[13] While the cruise ship cases run into the difficulty of actually proving that the passengers received the coronavirus as a result of the cruise’s actions, considering they have to travel to board the cruise, soccer attendees will generally have a much harder time, considering that they will likely only spend 3 hours at a soccer match, as opposed to days on a cruise.[14] There will still be a number of potential intervening factors that could shield teams and the league from liability.[15]
There will surely be “eggshell skull” issues surrounding negligence cases with coronavirus. While it is not shown that certain underlying conditions make someone more likely to catch coronavirus, they are generally believed to make severe outcomes more likely.[16] This could lead some to argue that while a patient may have caught coronavirus at their event, their underlying condition made the patient have a severe outcome. This is generally not accepted and one must take the plaintiff as they are, and does not excuse the underlying action that led to the harm.[17]
While Belarus law does not specifically define negligence, it does generally describe the principal of common law negligence, noting that the person who caused harm shall be liable for that harm, but if the victim of the harm impacted the harm, damages will be limited to the extent of the victim’s actions.[18] On it’s face, it appears that the soccer league could face liability for causing harm, but of course the difficulty will be showing that it was, of course, the soccer league that caused the harm and not the many other ways someone could have contracted coronavirus.
II. Belarus’ Leader
Perhaps the biggest reason for Belarus continuing their soccer league is the inaction of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko. Lukashenko has said a number of things in the media, but has not taken much action. Some statements from the controversial leader include that he could implement quarantine measures, “but what would we eat?”, suggested that remedies for the virus include drinking vodka and visiting saunas, and claimed that “no one (in Belarus) would die of coronavirus.”[19] As of April 11, there had been 23 deaths attributed to coronavirus in Belarus.[20] As of April 15, that number had risen to 36.[21]
Lukashenko’s inaction has already led to legal troubles for himself. A man living in France who lost his Belarussian mother to coronavirus, has filed a police claim against the small country’s leader.[22] The man claimed that Lukashenko did not take sufficient action against the disease, “and if this person who exercises power does not take those measures, he does nothing, he should be held accountable like any other citizen.”[23] The man said the hospital initially insisted that it was pneumonia, but later admitted it was coronavirus.[24]
Of course, Lukashenko is not going to be charged with any crime in Belarus for his actions, though he has been reproached by many around the world for his lack of response.[25] That said, it has not stopped those in other countries from challenging the lack of action from their leadership, and it could not be the last of Lukashenko’s legal issues.[26] While criminal charges against Lukashenko have not been discussed at length, criminal charges for President Trump were discussed in a recent podcast, with commentary coming from former U.S. Attorney’s Office Attorney Glenn Kirschner.[27] Without getting too into the weeds of a separate and deeply political issue and knowing that charges of the type against any world leader are extremely unlikely,[28] Kirschner’s theory boils down to alleging that leaders that failed to act meet factors spelled out for involuntary manslaughter, with causation being the biggest question.[29]
Belarussian law allows for homicide charges to be brought when criminally negligent.[30] A crime of negligence is defined as a “socially dangerous act, committed by thoughtlessness[.]”[31] The article goes on to state that a crime is a crime of negligence when they should “and could have” seen them coming.[32] In theory, leaders failing to take action could meet this, but again, causation is the biggest question, with a number of different factors standing in the way of the leader’s lack of action and contraction of coronavirus, and then more in the way of then passing away from coronavirus. Anyone charged will argue that they could not have prevented everyone from getting coronavirus, as even countries with many measures put into place have cases and deaths.
III. Conclusion
The continuation of Belarus’ soccer league, while being celebrated as a victory for sports fans and gamblers around the world, is evidence of Belarus President Alexander Lukashenko’s nonchalant approach to mitigation of the virus, and could theoretically lead to civil or even criminal liability for the league and the leader, though Lukashenko’s position makes success on any claims brought extremely unlikely. Generally when considering potential civil or criminal liability of business entities or government leaders, causation will be the biggest hindrance to successful plaintiff cases.
#Belarus #Cermak #coronavirus
[1] Coronavirus Cancellations and Reactions in Sports, ESPN (Apr. 17, 2020), https://www.espn.com/espn/story/_/id/28871525/coronavirus-cancellations-reactions-sports.
[2] Vladimir Kostin & Andrei Makhovsky, Belarus Soccer Continues Amid Virus Anxiety And Empty Stands, Reuters (Apr. 11, 2020), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-soccer-belarus/belarus-soccer-continues-amid-virus-anxiety-and-empty-stands-idUSKCN21T0FP;
Resources for Large Community Events & Mass Gatherings, CDC, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/community/large-events/index.html, (last visited Apr. 19, 2020).
[3] Given the nature of Lukashenko’s regime, criminal charges will never be brought against Lukashenko in Belarus in the current political climate, see Helene Bienvenu, Coronavirus in Belarus: Could Lukashenko's Grip be Shaken?, EuObserver.com (Apr. 14, 2020), https://euobserver.com/coronavirus/148048.
[4] See Kostin, supra note 2.
[5] Id.
[6] Id.
[7] David Murphy, Russian Ping-Pong? Belarussian Soccer? In the Age of Coronavirus, Sports Gamblers Find a Way, The Philadelphia Inquirer (Apr. 5, 2020), https://www.inquirer.com/sports/draft-kings-ping-pong-soccer-online-sports-gambling-20200405.html.
[8] Robert Klemko & Ben Strauss, As Sports Shut Down, Gamblers And Bookies Try (And Fail) To Find Enough Games To Bet, Washington Post (Mar. 19, 2020), https://www.washingtonpost.com/sports/2020/03/19/sports-betting-coronavirus/.
[9] Id.
[10] Matt Pearson, Coronavirus and Online Betting: A 'Perfect Storm' For Gambling Addicts, DW (Apr. 14, 2020), https://www.dw.com/en/coronavirus-and-online-betting-a-perfect-storm-for-gambling-addicts/a-53094333.
[11] See generally Id.
[12] Khristopher J. Brooks, Passengers Sue Cruise Lines, Alleging COVID-19 Negligence, CBS News (Apr. 17, 2020), https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cruise-lines-lawsuits-coronavirus-covid-19-diamond-princess-grand-princess-cruise-passengers/.
[13] Id.
[14] Unless, of course, someone perfectly quarantined themselves and took sufficient protective measures in everything but attending a soccer match.
[15] A short list of intervening factors that could severely limit liability include other actions taken by the plaintiff’s that could have exposed them to the virus.
[16]Information for Healthcare Professionals: COVID-19 and Underlying Conditions, CDC, https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/hcp/underlying-conditions.html, (last visited Apr. 19, 2020).
[17] Steve P. Calandrillo & Dustin E. Buehler, Eggshell Economics: A Revolutionary Approach to the Eggshell Plaintiff Rule, 74 Ohio St. L.J. 375, 380-383 (2013).
[18] Civil Code of the Republic of Belarus No. 218-Z, arts. 933-952 (Dec. 7,1998).
[19] Kostin supra note 2; Dmitriy Turlyun & Maria Vasilyeva, Man Who Lost Mother to Coronavirus Files Police Case Against Belarus Leader, Reuters (Apr. 15, 2020), https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-belarus-lawsuit/man-who-lost-mother-to-coronavirus-files-police-case-against-belarus-leader-idUSKCN21X2ES.
[20] Turlyun, supra note 18.
[21] Id.
[22] Id.
[23] Id.
[24] Id.
[25] Robyn Dixon, No Lockdown Here: Belarus's Strongman Rejects Coronavirus Risks. He Suggests Saunas and Vodka., Washington Post (Mar. 27, 2020), https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/no-lockdown-here-belaruss-strongman-rejects-coronavirus-risks-he-suggests-saunas-and-vodka/2020/03/27/7aab812c-7025-11ea-a156-0048b62cdb51_story.html.
[26] Mehdi Hasan, Is Donald Trump Criminally Responsible for Coronavirus Deaths?, The Intercept (Apr. 2, 2020), https://theintercept.com/2020/04/02/is-donald-trump-criminally-responsible-for-coronavirus-deaths/.
[27] Id.
[28] Id. (Kirschner noted that the case would be unprecedented and essentially impossible as a sitting president).
[29] Id. (Kirschner noted that causation was “tricky”).
[30] Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, No. 275-Z at art. 144. (Jul. 9, 1999).
[31] Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, No. 275-Z at art. 23(1) (Jul. 9, 1999).
[32] Criminal Code of the Republic of Belarus, No. 275-Z ar art. 23(3) (Jul. 9, 1999).