John Mehrzad blogs on Twitter “Guidance” for footballers for LawInSport.com

The brand valuation of a football club forms a significant part of its total value. For instance, Bayern Munich, Arsenal and Manchester United alone have a combined brand valuation in excess of £550 million. Given the rise in use of Twitter by fans and footballers alike, tweets have the potential to affect how clubs are perceived, which in turn impacts their brand value as well as the reputation of the sport. 

This makes tweeting a major concern, especially when barely a week goes by without a footballer tweeting out a comment that lands them in hot water. It also raises the issue of how clubs and governing bodies appropriately regulate footballers’ use of Twitter and, indeed, ultimately how controversial tweets can affect the player-club employment relationship. This author would like to share his thoughts on this latter issue following the recent first domestic appeal-level decision about workplace social media misconduct, Game Retail Limited v. Laws, in which he acted for the successful Respondent employer.

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