The NCAA has persuaded a U.S. appeals court to reject an order that the association said could erode distinctions between student and professional athletes.
As reported by Reuters, a panel of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 on Wednesday to overturn a lower decision that said football player Nyzier Fourqurean could compete for the University of Wisconsin beyond his fourth year of eligibility under the NCAA's player restrictions.
The NCAA has persuaded a U.S. appeals court to reject an order that the association said could erode distinctions between student and professional athletes.
As reported by Reuters, a panel of the Chicago-based 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 on Wednesday to overturn a lower decision that said football player Nyzier Fourqurean could compete for the University of Wisconsin beyond his fourth year of eligibility under the NCAA's player restrictions.
Under the NCAA's so-called five-year rule, athletes are eligible to compete in no more than four seasons within five years of having enrolled in college. The appeals court’s ruling for the NCAA still allows Fourqurean to continue challenging the rule as his lawsuit moves ahead in the lower court, Reuters reported.
As reported by Mike Scarcella of Reuters, Circuit Judge Amy St. Eve faulted Fourqurean's legal arguments, saying that he was relying improperly on his own exclusion from college sports to justify his antitrust claims. “He is not a rival of the NCAA, and he has not drawn a link from his exclusion to an adverse effect on an existing or potential rival of the NCAA,” St. Eve wrote, joined by Circuit Judge Joshua Kolar, as reported by Reuters.
In a dissent, Circuit Judge Kenneth Ripple said the NCAA’s five-year rule “decreases competition in the labor market by forcing out the market’s most experienced athletes.”
"At an earlier hearing in Fourqurean’s case, the appeals court struggled over where and how to draw a line that would limit the years a student can play sports," Scarcella wrote for Reuters. "A lawyer for the NCAA told the court that the eligibility rule was necessary to ensure that college students play college sports, and then move on and make way for a new group of student-athletes."
Fourqurean’s attorney, Michael Crooks, told the panel that his client’s case seeks “meaningful exceptions” to the NCAA's five-year rule, and not to overthrow the limit entirely.
Fourqurean’s lawsuit is part of a growing number of legal challenges that seek to loosen player eligibility rules, Scarcella reported.
