Football Law 2023 - Player Contracts, Agents, Tax And The Business Of Football

The 2023 Football Law Conference (6th Edition) will provide one full day of panel discussions and presentations, two evenings of networking opportunities and a workshop on player agency and tax. The conference provides a professional forum to meet and develop meaningful relationships with colleagues working in the sector. This year's event is being held in Manchester. 

Who Should Attend

• Sports executives and administrators (Club Secretaries, CEOs, CFOs, Directors, etc)
• In-house counsel working at clubs, federations, sponsors, media companies, agencies
• Private practice lawyers
• Agents

Topics & Agenda

• Player agents and tax - avoiding pitfalls and sharing best practice
• Commercial developments - fan engagement, sponsorship and media rights
• Key cases and regulatory update
• How approaches to risk management can help football clubs
• Women’s football - Managing the challenges that come with growth
• Financial Regulation and Independent Regulator
• Dealing with bad behaviour in football - on and off the pitch
• Coaches' and players' contracts - key developments and issues 
• Multi-Club Ownership - the future of football?

Day 1 - 21 May 2023

14:00 - 20:00 - Drinks Reception and Networking 

• Screening of Manchester City FC v Chelsea FC from 16:00 to 18:00.
  Dress code: causal. 

Day 2 -  22 May 2023

Dress code: Business/Business Causal

Morning (08:30 - 14:30) 

08:30 – 09:25  - Registration & networking breakfast

09:25 – 09:30 - Welcome speech

09:30 – 10:20 - Commercial developments - fan engagement, sponsorship and media rights

• Ciaran Fitzgerald-Morgan, Senior Legal Counsel - Media Rights, TEAM Marketing
• Aaron Dixon, Legal Counsel, Tottenham Hotspur F.C.
• David Trasler, Head of Commercial Legal, FIFA
• Emily Soilleux, Associate, Northridge (Moderator)

10:25 - 11:10 - Women’s football - Managing the challenges that come with growth

• Deirdre McCarthy, Senior Associate, Centrefield Law
• Harriet Leach, Legal Director, Onside Law
• Natasha Dowie, Professional football player, Liverpool FC
• Jake Cohen, Sports Lawyer (Moderator)

11:10 - 11:40 - What can football learn from other industries and sports in their approach to risk management?

• Tim Greenwell, Chief Governance & Operations Officer, Southampton FC
• Phil Draper, Compliance Manager and Legal Counsel, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team & Former Legal Counsel, Football Association of Wales
• Sean Cottrell, CEO & Co-Founder, LawInSport (Moderator)

11:40 - 12:00 Coffee Break

12:00 – 12:30 - Key cases and regulatory update

• Marco Antonio Amezcua Rubio, Senior Legal Counsel Football Regulatory, FIFA
• Mark Hovell, Partner & Head of Sports, Mills & Reeve

12:30 – 13:30 - Player agents and tax - avoiding pitfalls and sharing best practice

• Kelly Skeggs, COO & General Counsel, Omnisports
• Mario Tenore, Associate Partner, Pirola Pennuto Zei & Associati
• Daniel Geey, Partner, Sheridans
• Rhys Linnell, Director ‑ Tax, Sports & Entertainment, Saffery Champness LLP
• Sofia Thomas, Co-Founder & Partner, Juno Sports Tax
• Ian Laing, Counsel, Lombardi Associates (Moderator)

13:30 - 14:30 -  Lunch and networking

Afternoon (14:30 - 18:15)

14:30 - 15:10 - Coaches' and players' contracts - key developments and issues 

• Carol Couse, Partner, Mills & Reeve
• Kelly Skeggs, COO & General Counsel, Omnisports
• Patrick Schmidiger, Senior Legal Counsel, FIFA
• John Mehrzad KC, Head of Sports Law Group, Littleton Chambers
• James King, General Counsel at Professional Footballers' Association

15:10 – 15:50 - Investment and Multi-Club Ownership - the future of football? 

• Theo Ajadi, Manager - Sports M&A Advisory and Transaction Support, Deloitte
• Andrea Bozza, Head of Football, Deloitte Legal
• George Pennington, Senior Lawyer at Legends, and former Head of Legal at Watford FC

15:50 - 16:10 - Coffee break

16:20 - 17:00 - Dealing with bad behaviour in football - on and off the pitch

• Andrew Mercer, General Counsel & Director of Legal Affairs, The Asian Football Confederation
• Prof. Geoff Pearson, Professor of Law, University of Manchester Law School
• Ifeanyi Odogwu, Barrister, Matrix Chambers (Moderator)

17:00 - 17:25 - Refreshments and networking

17:25 - 18:10 - Financial Regulation and Independent Regulator

• Kieran Maguire, Football Finance Lecturer, University of Liverpool
• Chris Anderson, experienced Football Lawyer and GC,  and Former Head of the Football Governance Review
• Adam Crockett, Head of Football Regulation Policy, Department of Culture, Media & Sport
• Kendrah Potts, Barrister, 4 New Square Chambers (Moderator)

18:20 – 21:00 Drinks reception

Attending Organisations

Football Clubs & Federations

• Aberdeen FC
• Barnsley FC
• Birmingham City FC
• Blackburn Rovers FC
• Charlton Athletic FC
• City Football Group
• Crystal Palace
• Everton FC
• FIFA
• Hibernian FC
• Liverpool FC
• Manchester United FC
• Newcastle United FC
• Norwich FC
• Nottingham Forest Women F.C
• Premier League
• Preston North End FC
• Redbridge Community FC
• Royal Antwerp FC
• Shelbourne FC
• Southampton FC
• Stockport County FC
• Stoke City FC
• Sunderland AFC
• The Asian Football Confederations
• The FA
• The PFA
• Tottenham Hotspur FC
• Wigan Athletic

Sports Organisations - Agency, Solution Providers & Consultants

• Ankura Consulting Group
• BCOMS
• Brisk Sports
• Cornerstone Football
• Deloitte
• Department of Culture, Media & Sport
• Flex Legal
• Football Beyond Borders
• Grand Central Sports
• Grant Thornton
• Juno Sports Tax
• Legends
• HW Fisher LLP
• Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team
• Omnisports
• Pirola Pennuto Zei & Associati
• Pitch International
• PWC
• Saffery Champness LLP
• Secret Scout
• TactX
• TEAM Marketing
• The Athletic
• The Daily Mail
• Triple S Sports & Entertainment Group Ltd

Law Firms & Chambers

• 39 Essex Chambers
• 4 New Square Chambers
• 7BR Chambers
• Ambiel, Belfiore, Gomes e Hanna Advogados
• Armstrong Teasdale
• ATFIELD
• BCL Solicitors
• Bishop & Sewell
• BluePort Legal
• Brabners LLP
• CEE Attorneys
• Centrefield Law
• Charles Russell Speechlys
• Church Court Chambers
• CMS
• Crowell & Moring
• DAHL Advokatpartnerselskab
• DLA Piper
• Fletcher Sports Law
• Flex Legal
• Fountain Court Chambers
• Gowling WLG
• Great Wall Law Firm
• Hugo Paris Avocat
• JMW Solicitors
• Lentze Stopper Rechtsanwälte PartGmbB
• Lewis Silkin LLP
• Lombardi Associates
• Mackrell Solicitors
• MAQS
• Martens Rechtsanwälte
• Matrix Chambers
• Mills & Reeve
• Northridge
• Onside Law
• Puente Sur
• Reed Smith
• Sheridans
• Shoosmiths
• Slaughter and May
• Spencer Churchill Law Ltd
• Squire Patton Boggs (UK) LLP
• Stephenson Harwood LLP
• Stuart Henry Law
• TLT LLP
• Wiggin LLP

Academic 

• BPP University
• Edge Hill University
• ISDE
• UCFB
• University of Liverpool
• University of Warwick

Tickets

There is a limited number of tickets, therefore they are being sold on a first come first served basis. 

Please register for a Standard or Plus account and login when you are purchasing your ticket to ensure you can watch the video recordings and you receive the correct ticket. 

*To purchase an in-house/academic ticket please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.
** To be eligible for a student ticket you must be a full-time student before and at the time of the conference. If you purchase a student ticket when you are not a Full-Time Student (i.e. a working student) you will be prevented from entering the conference until the balance is paid and your membership may be revoked. To purchase a student ticket, please email events@lawinsport with a copy of your student card and certificate/letter of attendance to receive the discount code. 

Full-Time Current & Former Athlete & Esports Players/Managers/Coaches = FREE. 
If you represent your country at the Olympics and Paralympics or you are a full-time professional athlete, manager or coach, please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your details about the club or country you currently represent. If you are currently working in the professional services sector or you are in an executive position for a sports organisation, you will not be eligible for a free ticket. 

Each attendee only needs to register once for the Conference and they will receive registration details in advance of the event. Discounts are applied automatically during the registration and checkout. Please note that all tickets are non-refundable. 

Academic Membership Bulk Tickets - Our academic member institutions can receive a further discount on bulk tickets for their students. Please email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. for more details.

In the unlikely event that the British Government introduces new restrictions that require the conference to be postponed, tickets will be carried forward to the date of the rescheduled conference.   

Further Discounts

As with all LawInSport's activities, we set the price to be as inclusive as possible. A full price ticket equates to less than 1 hour of  billable time for the majority of lawyers around the world. For students it is less than the price of a couple of cups of coffee for each session, and is less than 5% of the cost of many online courses. Therefore, we hope you will understand why we do not offer any additional discounts.

Professional Development

The conference offers 6 hours of self-accredited CPD.

Sponsors

Venue Sponsor - OmniSports 

Venue & Travel Arrangements 

OmniSports, (The Gallery) 3 Archway, Hulme, Manchester M15 5QJ. 

Travel Arrangements:

• 10 minutes by taxi from Manchester Piccadilly Train Station.
• 18 minutes from Manchester Airport.
• Coach service (only on Monday 22 May):
  • In the morning two coaches will collect attendees from Manchester Piccadilly and take them to the conference venue, leaving at 8:55 & 9:25
  • In the evening there will be two coaches collecting attendees from the conference venue to Manchester Piccadilly at 19:00 and 20:00.
  • You can register for this service, which is on a first come first served basis, here.