France

[FR] CSA Recommendation on Broadcasting certain Types of Fighting Contest

IRIS 2006-2:1/16

Philie Marcangelo-Leos

Légipresse

Under the terms of Article 15 of the Act of 30 September 1986 (amended), the Conseil Supérieur de l'Audiovisuel (audiovisual regulatory authority in France - CSA) is responsible for ensuring that children and young people are not shown television programmes that could be damaging for their development. At its plenary assembly on 20 December 2005, the CSA adopted a recommendation on television broadcasting of certain types of extremely violent fighting contests. In addition to the principles of dignity of the human person and maintenance of public order mentioned in the 1986 Act, the CSA text also refers to a Council of Europe Recommendation of 22 April 1999 that recommends that Member Statesundertake all necessary measures to prohibit and prevent free fighting contestsas they constitute a danger to spectators, jeopardise the health of the contestants and have connections with unlawful activities.

Contests classified by their organisers as "Free Fight", "MMA" or "Combat libre" are not recognised by the French national federations and have been banned in France by the adoption of bylaws. They do not meet the requirements listed by the CSA concerning respect for the physical and moral integrity of the participants, the transmission of educational values, the existence of appropriate medical support, checks to prevent doping, and trained support teams, and contestants being of equal technical status and comparable weight. As a result, the CSA considers that broadcasting contests of this kind on television infringes the dignity of those taking part, is likely to seriously damage the physical, mental or moral development of minors, and is contrary to the maintenance of public order. The CSA recommends that editors of television services should refrain from broadcasting contests that are not governed by a national federation approved by the ministry with responsibility for sport or, in the case of contests taking place in other countries, that do not meet the criteria mentioned.

In April the CSA refused to sign an agreement with "Fight TV", a channel devoted to combat sports, on the grounds that the programmes it intended to broadcast were contrary to the principle of the dignity of the human person.