In this, the first in a series of two blogs, Josh Kaye looks at the history of GLT, including the additions to the FIFA Laws of the Game; the second part will examine the arguments surrounding its use.

Over the past two weeks I have been fortunate to have been involved with three prestigious sports law conferences in different parts of the world. All of which focussed solely on or covered the hot topic of match-fixing. This two-part blog is a reflection on the themes and issues which arose out of the three conferences.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the appeal filed by Malagá Club de Futbol SAD (Spain) against the decision taken on 21 December 2012 by the Adjudicatory Chamber of the UEFA Club Financial Control Body (the “UEFA decision”). As a consequence, the Spanish club is excluded from the UEFA Europa League 2013/14 and will have to pay a fine or EUR 300’000.

For twenty years parachute payments have been awarded by the Premier League to cushion the landing for those clubs relegated into the Championship. Over this period there has been an on-going concern that this additional income would distort competition and lead to a yo-yo culture of the same clubs moving between the top two divisions.

On 9 May 2013, AGCM, the Italian antitrust authority, rejected the claims of RTI, a company belonging to Mediaset group, which alleged that SKY Italia abused its dominant position with reference to the acquisition of media rights to the UEFA Champions League tournament (from 2012 to 2015) and to the World Cup tournament in 2010 and 2014.

Simon Pentol a barrister at 25 Bedford Row and board member of the British Association of Sport and Law shares his experiences of working with and represent high profile athletes.

Simon acted as leading counsel in the criminal cases of one of the defendants tried for fraud arising out of a previous take-over of Derby County FC (Operation Rodman), Ian Elliott (football agent) and the sons of the owner of Cardiff City FC.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has issued its decision in relation to the appeals filed by FC Nantes (France), Ismael Bangoura (Guinea) and Al Nasr Sports Club (Dubaï) against the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber’s decision of 16 November 2012 (notified on 1 February 2013) in which the French club and the Guinean player were sanctioned for an unjustified breach of contract.

While the Armstrong scandal, the suspension of cyclist, Frank Schleck, and the recent slew of Russian athletes receiving doping bans¹ demonstrates that the familiar culprits (cyclists, track and field athletes, swimmers, former Eastern bloc athletes) continue to engage in foul practices, recent developments in the doping world indicate that less familiar suspects are increasingly in the frame.

Kevin Carpenter provides an update on match-fixing policy and possible reforms from Law Accord and the “Don’t Fix It” training event, part of a European Union funded initiative which was being led by FIFPro, alongside UEFA.

A few weeks ago, for the first time, a professional American sportsman from one of the four major team sports in the US (basketball, baseball, American football and ice hockey) publicly announced that he is gay.  Jason Collins, an NBA basketball player, said in a recent interview: “I'm a 34-year-old NBA center. I'm black. And I'm gay”¹.  It is fair to say that the reaction to this news has not been unequivocally supportive.

The break-even requirement, the cornerstone of UEFA’s Financial Fair Play Regulations, will first apply to clubs in UEFA competitions for the 2013/14 season. As a product of the football family’s consensus for change, it primarily aims to help European clubs achieve amore sustainable balance between their costs and revenues.

Adrian Barr-Smith, Consultant at Dentons and the Chair of the British Association of Sport and Law provides an overview of history of the UK sports rights and broadcasting market from his involvement in the first Football League first major broadcasting deal to the his current work with the Premier League. 

Chairman, British Association of Sport & Law Adrian Barr-Smith explains how he fell into law, built a sports practice and went on to become one of the influential figures in British sports law.

Given the recent case of Caster Semenya and Fallon Fox, John van der Luit-Drummond tackles the the question, ‘under what conditions transsexuals should be allowed to participate in professional sports in their acquired gender?’