| 9.1 |
Conflicting
Interests and Prohibited Conduct. |
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The
violation of any of the provisions of this Article IX is
conduct detrimental to the League: |
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(a) |
No
member, stockholder, officer, director, partner, or
holder of any interest in a member club, or employee
thereof, including players, and no officer or employee
of the League, including a game official, may: |
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(1) |
Own
or have any financial interest, directly or indirectly,
in any other member club of the League. |
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(2) |
Directly
or indirectly loan money to or become surety or
guarantor for any other member club, or any player,
coach, or employee thereof, or holder of an interest
therein, without prior approval of the Commissioner. |
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(3) |
Directly
or indirectly loan money or offer any gift or reward or
become surety or guarantor for any game official or
other official employee of the League. |
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(4) |
Act
as the contracting agent or representative for any
player or share or be financially interested in the
compensation of any player in the League. Nothing
prevents any player from negotiating on his own behalf
or for his own account, or for others as an authorized
collective bargaining representative. |
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(5) |
Publicize
or participate in the selection of any mythical
All-League or All-Opponent team, |
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(6) |
Issue
a free ticket of admission to a game to any visiting
club or player thereof except pursuant to the
Constitution and By-Laws of the League. |
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(7) |
Offer
any gift or reward to a player, coach, or person
connected with or employed by another member club for
services promised, rendered, or to be rendered in
defeating or attempting to defeat a competing club. |
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(8) |
Publicly
criticize any member club or its management, personnel,
employees, or coaches, and/or any football official
employed by the League. All complaints or
criticism in this regard must be made to the
Commissioner only, and must not be publicized directly
or indirectly. |
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(9) |
Directly
or indirectly pay a fine for a person who has been
penalized. |
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(10) |
Permit
or state in any game program, or by means of its public
address system or otherwise, that it, he or they, offer
or agree, either directly or indirectly, to pay or give
money or any other thing of value to any member of the
public except as so provided in the Constitution and
By-Laws. No club or person referred to in this
Section 9.1 may participate at any time, directly or
indirectly, in any lottery of any kind, except those
sanctioned by law. |
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(11) |
Own,
directly or indirectly, any interest whatsoever in a
professional football organization, league, club, or
team not a member of the League. |
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(12) |
Offer
or pay a player or coach, and no player or coach may
receive, any bonus, money, or thing of value for winning
any game played in the League unless the bonus provision
is attached to and incorporated in the contract of the
player or coach. |
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(13) |
Fail
to present its team at the time and place where it is
scheduled to play in any League game, unless the failure
is caused by an unavoidable accident in travel or by
conditions beyond the control of the member. |
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(14) |
Violate
any of the player recruitment and allocation provisions
of the By-Laws. |
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(15) |
Tamper
with a player or coaches or other employees under
contract to or the property of another member
club as the word tampering is defined in the By-Laws. |
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(16) |
Offer,
agree, conspire, or attempt to illegally influence the
outcome of any game. |
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(17) |
No
beer or other beverage may be dispensed in USFL stadia
except by being poured into cups. |
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(18) |
Any
use by any club at any time of any communications or
information gathering equipment with the intent to
covertly discover confidential team strategy or like
matters, other than instant cameras or field telephones,
is prohibited, including without limitation, video tape
machines, telephone tapping or bugging devices, or any
other form of electronic device that might aid a team
during the playing of a game. |
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(b) |
No
player, coach, or manager may directly or indirectly own
stock or have any financial interest in the ownership or
earnings of any member club of the League, other than in
the member club with whom he is employed, and then only
under any agreement approved by the Executive Committee
stipulating for the immediate sale (and the terms
thereof) of the stock or financial interest therein in
the event of his transfer to, employment by, or
association with another member club. A player,
coach, or manager financially interested in another
member club shall be ineligible to play for, coach, or
manage the club of any other member while, in the
opinion of the Executive Committee, the interest is
retained by or for him, directly or indirectly. |
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(c) |
No
player, coach, manager, or owner may remove his team,
nor order his team removed, from the field during the
playing of a game, regular or pre-season, except at the
direction of the referee. Should any club in this
League violate the provisions of this subsection 9.1(c),
then in addition to all other remedies available to the
Commissioner under the Constitution or By-Laws, the club
guilty of a violation will face possible forfeiture of
any victory or tie achieved in the game and, in
addition, incur sole liability for financial losses
suffered by the opposing team and any other member clubs
so affected where such losses are the proximate cause of
the wrongful removal. All such determinations must
be made by the Commissioner. |
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(d) |
No
member may place its TWX machine in an area to which
non-club personnel has access. |
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| 9.2 |
Additional
Restrictions. |
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(a) |
No
coach, or administrative or supervisory employee as
hereinafter defined, may be employed by any member club
of the League without the prior approval of the
Commissioner. All coaches must be selected from a
list of candidates approved by the Commissioner or the
Executive Committee, and must have, before commencing
employment, a written contract. This contract must
be filed in the League Office promptly following
execution, and the terms thereof must be approved by the
Commissioner. An administrator or supervisory employee,
for the purpose of this section, means a general manager
or any assistant to the president or executive
officer" of the club. |
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(b) |
Every
contract with any employee of the League or of a club
therein must contain a clause wherein the employee
agrees to abide and be legally bound by the
Constitution, By-Laws, and the Rules and Regulations of
the League, as well as by the decisions of the
Commissioner thereof, which decisions shall be final,
conclusive, and unappealable. The contract must
also provide that the contracting parties, if involved
or affected in any manner by a decision of the
Commissioner, agree to release the Commissioner and to
waive every claim he, they, or it have against the
Commissioner individually, and in his official capacity,
as well as against the League, each and every member
club thereof, and any and all directors, officers,
stockholders, partners, or holders of an interest
therein, for damages or equitable relief, and for any
other claims or demands arising out of or connected with
any decision of the Commissioner. Every written
employment contract with any non-player employee of a
club must be filed in the League Office promptly
following its execution, and must provide; that the
contract sets forth the entire agreement between the
parties; that no oral agreements and/or other written
agreements except as are attached to the contract or
specifically incorporated by reference therein, exist
between them; that the written contract (including
agreements attached thereto or incorporated therein)
sets forth the entire agreement with respect to the
employee's services for the club; and that neither party
will rely on any agreement or understanding not reduced
to writing and specifically incorporated into the
employment contract prior to its execution or when
subsequently amended. |
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(c) |
No
owner or person holding any interest in a member club,
nor any officer, stockholder, director, or partner
thereof, nor any officer or employee of the League or
member club thereof, may enter the dressing room of a
game official. |
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(d) |
Subject
to the provisions of the By-Laws, for purposes of this
subsection, a player shall be deemed to be an
"active member of the Armed Forces" unti1 he
is discharged therefrom or listed as a reserve member of
the Armed Forces. No active member of the Armed
Forces may play or practice with a club in the League,
subject to the following limitations: |
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(1) |
In
the event of a declaration of war, the Commissioner has
the right to suspend this requirement for the duration
thereof. |
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(2) |
This
provision shall not apply to participation in any
pre-season games. |
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(3) |
This
provision shall not apply to any player who has been
given a conditional release from the Armed Forces or is
on terminal leave |
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(4) |
Active
members of the Armed Forces may play or practice with a
club provided: |
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(i) |
The
club, at the time the player is inducted into the Armed
Forces of the United States, continues to carry such
player as one of its active players and notifies the
Commissioner to that effect at the time of said
induction; and |
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(ii) |
Such
player received permission from his commanding officer
in the military service to play or practice with such
club. |
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(e) |
No
club, nor any coach, representative, or employee
thereof, shall use or employ any mechanical or other
equipment or device in connection with the staging or
playing of any game, except such as has been normally
and commonly used in games played in other professional
football leagues. No electronic magnifiers or loud
speaker systems may be used or employed either from the
stands, bench, or sidelines, or anywhere else to impart
any information or instructions to players engaged in
play on the field, but any instruction or information
may only be given orally or through substitution. |
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(f) |
In
connection with the showing of films, no employee,
officer/ owner, or representative of a club may make any
comment or express any opinion, publicly or for
publication, on the quality of the officiating or that
any play shown was or was not illegal. |
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