Football Legal Aid Fund: A Step Towards Access to Justice for Players, Clubs & Agents
FIFA and the International Council of Arbitration for Sport (“ICAS”) earlier in the year announced the establishment of a legal aid fund specifically available for parties to fo...
The Online Safety Bill: Calling full time on online abuse in sport?
The vitriolic online abuse directed towards high-profile athletes in recent years requires no introduction. From the torrent of racist abuse directed at England’s footballers af...
How Premiership Rugby’s salary cap regulations work
When it comes to salary caps, US sports have led the way with no fewer than 10 disciplines adopting a restriction in financial spending within their respective sports. Most nota...
The 6th Consensus Statement on Concussion in Sport: What's New?
In 1921, the American boxer Jack Dempsey and the French boxer Georges Carpentier squared off in a hastily assembled outdoor arena built on a farm in New Jersey for boxing’s firs...
What sports organisations need to know about the new failure to prevent fraud offence
In an amendment to the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill (“Bill”), the UK Government is set to introduce a new failure to prevent fraud (“FTPF”) offence1. Like the ...
A guide to Serie A’s new collective bargaining agreement
On 10th March 2023, the Italian Football Association (“FIGC”), the Serie A Italian Professional League ('Lega Nazionale Professionisti Serie A' or “Serie A”) and the Italian foo...
Italian Revenue Agency scores again on the tax treatment of Cristiano Ronaldo's image rights income
The Second Instance Tax Court of Piedmont issued its judgment no. 219 of 15 May 2023 (“Decision”) regarding the tax treatment of income deriving from the exploitation of image r...
Key legal issues to look out for at the Rugby World Cup 2023
With the Rugby World Cup 2023 upon us, LawInSport has reached out to a number of legal experts working in the sports sector to share their views on the key issues to look out fo...
Key sports law decisions by the Swiss Federal Tribunal published in first half of 2023
This article provides analysis of some of the key cases from The Swiss Federal Tribunal (“SFT”) is that were published[1] in the first semester of 2023[2]
decision 4A_484/202...
Football agents (PROFAA) v FIFA – CAS’s biggest EU competition law decision yet?
On 24 July 2023, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (“CAS”) issued its decision in the dispute between the Professional Football Agents Association (“PROFAA”) and FIFA in relati...
Can a football player negotiate with another agent while under an exclusive representation agreement?
One of the common questions raised by football agents, in the author’s experience, is the question of whether a football player can negotiate and conclude an agreement with anot...
8 things sports businesses should know before entering into vendor and service agreements
Professional sports organisations (teams, clubs, associations) often enter into a variety of service agreements with third parties relating to its business operations, which are...
A comprehensive overview of new legislation regulating sports betting in Brazil
A significant new legislation was passed concerning sports betting in Brazil on 24th of July 2023[1]. The Provisional Measure No. 1,182/2023 (“Sports Betting PM”) considerably m...
CAS decision provides guidance on Football Club ‘sporting succession’ in Romania
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (“CAS”), in its recent award in CAS 2021/A/8331 Victor Pițurcă v. RFF & U Craiova 1948 SA (“CAS Award”), confirmed the decisions passed by...
My first steps as a sports lawyer – Chris Watkins, Legal Counsel at City Football Group & LawInSport Mentee 2021-2022
From the day I finalised my decision to study law at university, I was interested in pairing potential future legal skills with my passion for sport. “Passion for sport” is some...
The Battle For Olympic Selection And Coaches Conflict Of Interest - Manika Batra Vs TTFI
Manika Batra (“Manika”) is a top 50 ranked international table tennis player from India. She has been the torchbearer of the resurrection of interest in table tennis in India. A...
Balancing stakeholder interest in Women’s football - a commentary on the Carney Review
Women’s football is firmly in the spotlight this summer. Following a record-breaking 2022/23 English domestic season, where viewership and live audiences for the Women’s Super ...
Working as a football agent in Italy: Complying with the FIFA's Football Agent Regulations & Italian law
On January 6th, 2023, the FIFA Football Agent Regulations (“FFAR”), were published following their enactment in Doha on December 16th, 2022. Since their publication the FFAR hav...
Reflections of Paralympic athlete & aspiring sports lawyer - Nic Beveridge
I’ve said this before (under different circumstances) however I feel it’s applicable in this instance too. Good things can find us when we least expect them to.
It was January ...
Sports marketing and sponsorships in Japan - Legal issues & key takeaways
The Japanese government has been placing a strong emphasis on the growth of sports business as one of its key policies. The “Third Sports Basic Plan” announced in 20221 aspires ...
An analysis of Premier League fines against Crystal Palace FC for delays in taking to pitch
This article looks at the decision and reasons of a Premier League Independent Disciplinary Commission (“Commission”) to fine Crystal Palace FC (“CPFC”) for two breaches of Prem...
Leicester City FC fined by UK Competition Authority: Key learnings for sports organisations
On 31 July 2023, the UK Competition and Markets Authority (“CMA”) issued an infringement decision finding that Leicester City FC colluded with JD Sports to restrict competition ...
The lifecycle of an international athlete - Important pension considerations
This is the fifth in Penningtons Manches [Cooper]’s series of blogs addressing the key legal issues that international athletes and their advisors should consider before coming ...
Sports lawyer in the spotlight: Brianna Quinn
For this edition of Sports Lawyer In The Spotlight, we interviewed Brianna Quinn who is a partner at Bird & Bird in Sydney, Australia. She represents sports clients in a wid...
Why non-compete clauses have no place in professional football
For the Malta Football Players Association (“MFPA”), it was hard not to hear echoes of a pre-Bosman era, when a Brazilian player sought out their legal help at the end of 2022 t...
The battle for sports data: IMG Arena takes Stats Perform to court
It pays to know things. In any market, there is a premium on accurate information being provided at speed. In the financial and equity markets, this value is reflected in detai...
Will EU and UK Competition Authorities scrutinise The PGA Tour, DP World Tour, PIF joint venture?
The PGA TOUR (“PGA Tour”) and DP World Tour announced their intended partnership with Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (“PIF”) in relation to their combined golf related co...
7 things I’ve learnt as a LawInSport Mentee – Grace Hockold
When I applied for the mentoring scheme at the beginning of 2021, I was in the final year of my undergraduate degree in Law at Nottingham Trent University. When I began my degre...
How is sport approaching mental health?
Earlier this year triple Olympic gold medallist, Adam Peaty, withdrew from the British swimming championships, on mental health grounds connected with depression and alcohol pro...
Why are football players in the Czech Republic treated as independent contractors?
The Czech Republic, along with Romania and Slovenia (among others), does not recognize footballers as employees1, but rather independent contractors2. This legal status comes wi...
“Throwing” down the gauntlet: What constitutes an illegal delivery in cricket?
The Indian Premier League (“IPL”) has been a potboiler of sorts for cricket over the years. While still on a sticky wicket with puritans of the game, it has increased the viewer...
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