Section 3: Safety requirements for football, handball, field and indoor hockey goal cages and basketball goals

The provisions of this section, adopted in application of article L. 422-2 of the French Consumer Code, apply to football, handball, hockey and indoor hockey goal cages and basketball goals intended for use outdoors or indoors for sporting activities or games. Lightweight goals with a total weight of less than 10 kg are excluded from the scope of this section.

It is forbidden to import, hold with a view to sale, offer for sale, sell, distribute free of charge or against payment, hire out or make available to the public the equipment referred to in article R. 322-19 which does not meet the safety requirements laid down in this section.

As soon as non-mobile equipment is placed on the market, it must be fitted with an installation device to ensure that it is permanently attached. As soon as mobile equipment is placed on the market, it must be fitted with a permanent securing or counterbalancing device that is integral with the structure. The attachment or counterweight device must prevent the equipment from falling, overturning or tipping over under reasonably foreseeable…

Equipment manufactured in accordance with the relevant safety standards, the references of which are published in the Journal officiel de la République française, is deemed to meet the safety requirements of this section. The person responsible for placing the equipment on the market for the first time shall make available to the officials responsible for inspection a file containing a detailed description of the product and the means by which…

When placed on the market and up to the final purchaser stage, football, handball and hockey goalposts and basketball goals are accompanied by instructions for use specifying their assembly, installation, use, maintenance and, where applicable, storage conditions. The equipment must bear a visible, legible and indelible warning to users on how to install and use the equipment and on the risks associated with these operations. The equipment also bears the…

Football, handball, hockey and basketball goal cages may not be made available to users for the purposes of sporting activities or games, whether free of charge or in return for payment, if the equipment does not meet the safety requirements set out in this section.

The equipment mentioned in article R. 322-19 is regularly maintained by the operators or managers so that it complies at all times with the safety requirements defined by this section. As soon as it is installed for the first time, it is inspected by the operators or managers in accordance with the requirements of the relevant standards, the references of which are published in the Journal officiel de la République…

Operators or managers are required to notify the Prefect of the département without delay of any serious accident caused by any of the equipment mentioned in this section. A serious accident is a fatal accident or an accident causing bodily harm.

The provisions of this section shall not prevent the free movement of football, handball, hockey and basketball goalposts which comply with the technical standards or specifications or manufacturing processes of another Member State of the European Union, or party to the Agreement on the European Economic Area, or of Turkey, ensuring a level of safety equivalent to that guaranteed by this section.

The following are punishable by a fifth-class fine 1° Importing, holding with a view to sale, offering for sale, selling, distributing free of charge or against payment, hiring out or making available to the public sports equipment not fitted with a fixing or counterweight device as provided for in article R. 322-21 of this Code or fitted with a device that does not comply with the requirements of the same…