Source :- THE AGE NEWS
Organisers of a controversial collision sports competition will be forced to cancel their next event after the NSW Supreme Court refused to overturn a decision by the state regulator for combat sport on Thursday.
The Run Nation Championship is a competition in which two contestants, predominantly former rugby league or union players, run at each other and collide at speed in front of spectators.
Health experts have warned the sport is potentially life-threatening, but organisers have claimed the competition is a safer version of the “run it straight” trend which resulted in the death of a 19-year-old in New Zealand last year.
The next Run Nation Championship event was slated to be held on Saturday, but last month – as revealed by this masthead – the NSW Combat Sports Authority sent organisers a notice to cancel it.
In a bid to overturn that decision, organisers took the regulator to the NSW Supreme Court, arguing their event was not a combat sport as defined by the Combat Sports Act 2013 and should not be controlled by the regulator.
The matter was heard on Tuesday before Justice Andrew Coleman delivered his judgment on Thursday afternoon, dismissing Run Nation Championship’s attempt to overturn the notice and ordering them to pay the costs of the regulator.
Despite the court’s decision, tickets for Saturday’s event are still on sale, with the most expensive priced at $999. Previous Run Nation Championships have attracted current NRL stars as spectators, including Cody Walker and Latrell Mitchell.
More to come.
