Abstract

Article

Exclusion - Sport Exercise or Activity

This policy does not cover any  liability for Personal Injury to any person or Property Damage to the property of any person arising directly or indirectly out of or in any way connected with, the actual participation of such person in any sport exercise or activity such as but not limited to aerobics, athletics, football, aquatic, aerial or equestrian activity.

The phrase, “sport exercise or activity”, is not entirely clear. First, it could be read as if there were a comma between “sport” and “exercise”. Secondly, if the word “sport” were read in an adjectival sense as qualifying what follows, it is not clear whether it qualifies only “exercise” or also “activity”. Thirdly, the word “sport” qualifies only the word “exercise” and not the word “activity”. Yoga is plainly an “activity” but whether it is a “sport activity” is a more difficult question. Whether it is an “activity” in a list of items which includes “sport” and “exercise” and which provides as examples, “aerobics, athletics, football, aquatic, aerial or equestrian activity” raises further issues. Even the assumption that yoga involves physical exercise might be misplaced if the particular form of yoga is purely meditative and does not involve such poses as might be typical in other forms of yoga. Wigge v Allianz Australia Insurance Ltd [2020] NSWSC 150