Sports lawyer, barrister and arbitrator, John Mehrzad KC discusses his recent move to Fountain Court Chambers, and what this means for the potential for increased competition in sports law, and improved representation in the sports law market. John shares his view on the value of sports clients (international federations, governing bodies, clubs, a…

Brendan Schwab has spent his career helping, and leading, players and sports organisation to be better prepared to face the challenges they face. In this episode, Brendan reflects on his career to date and provides a fascinating insight into sport, law, industrial relations, human rights and leadership.In this interview Brendan talks about:How and …

Massimo Coccia is founding partner of Coccia De Angelis & Associati law firm. He holds a J.D. degree cum laude from the Law School of the University of Rome Sapienza (1981) and a Master of Laws degree (LL.M.) from the University of Michigan Law School (1984), which he attended with a Fulbright fellowship.It is universally recognized that Mr. Coccia…

In July 2022, after a delay due the pandemic, the CAF Executive Committee adopted a new regulatory framework for the CAF Club Licensing System and Stadiums framework. The new regulations are the first major reform of CAF's club licensing system and stadiums since first introduced in 2012, which include regulations on men's club licensing, women's c…

Our guest for this show is Paolo Lombardi, founder of Lombardi Associates. He has had an illustrious career in football and law. In this show Paolo talks about his time at the start of the FIFA's legal department, meeting Diego Maradona in a disciplinary case, starting a sports law firm and more. Paolo Is the founder and managing director of Lombar…

Professor Kenneth Shropshire is a pioneer in the development of the sports law sector. He has had a distinguished career in sport, business and law over the last 40 years as a professor, business consultant, author, and lawyer.He has experience in a wide range of sports related issues such as race and discrimination issues, leading a global sportin…

As a $300 billion industry, it is hard to overlook the contribution equine sports law makes to the sports sector and the global economy. In this episode you will hear from leading specialists in equine law about the breadth of interesting, and at time unique, legal issues that arise for owners, trainers, riders and horses.Luc Schelstraete & Piotr W…

This podcast focuses on a new law in Brazil that is encouraging investment in Brazilian football. The new allows for clubs, to incorporate and receive investment while maintaining control of its identify. It is an innovative new approach. In this episode we speak to the drafter of law José Francisco Manssur who is a partner at Ambiel, Manssur, Belf…

Mohit Pasricha is a Partner and Head of the Sports & Entertainment Team at Mackrell.Solicitors. He advising and representing a variety of sporting clients within the industry. He provides comprehensive advice on commercial and intellectual property matters in sport.His clients, among which include professional sport clubs, commercial sponsors, spor…

Bobby Sharma is a special adviser to the Sports & Entertainment Group at Foley & Lardner LLP. He has nearly 20 years of sports, media, and entertainment industry experience.Bobby is founding partner of Electronic Sports Group (ESG), a market-leading esports advisory firm which helps investment and business leaders navigate and operate in the burgeo…

Caroline McGrory is the Chief Legal Officer for the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. She started off her career in private practice before moving in house to IMG (the global sports marketing agency) in 2000. She then moved back into private practice to become the inaugural Head of the Sports Group at Charles Russell Speechlys LLP (then Charles R…

Daan Buylaert & Sven Demeulemeester are founders and Partners of ATFIELD, a collaborations between of full service law firm Altius and the tax law firm Tiberghien, which provides a single point of contact for sports sector. Their clients include football clubs inside and outside of Belgian, investors in acquiring clubs, players, cyclists and cycle …

In 2020, Azeem Rafiq publicly spoke about the alleged racism faced at him while he played for the Yorkshire Country Cricket Club (YCCC) between 2008-2014 and 2016-2018. Eventually, YCCC launched its own investigation and Rafiq also appeared before a UK Parliamentary Committee to elaborate on his allegations against the club. In November 2021, two p…

Ricardo de Buen Rodríguez is the founding and Managing Partner of the Law Firm DE BUEN LAW in Mexico City. He is also a member of the Court of Arbitration for Sport since 2002 andwas part of the ad Hoc Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport during the Olympic Games London 2012. He is a professor at different Universities in Mexico, and visi…

Mark Kurtenbach represents private and public companies and private equity and venture capital investors in mergers and acquisitions, debt and equity financings, securities offerings, joint ventures, strategic relationships, and general corporate matters. He is a partner at Hogan Lovells in their Denver office.His practice spans a variety of indust…

Reyes Bellver is the Founder and Attorney-at-Law at Bellver Sports – Legal boutique (Madrid, Spain). She started her legal career at EY, but since 2009 she has been working in Sports Law and focused on football issues, defense of players, coaches and clubs before the dispute resolution bodies of FIFA and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), as…

Ben is the Senior Director, Legal at International Tennis Integrity Agency. He is a barrister and solicitor with 12+ years’ experience at top-tier firm and in-house, previously leading World Rugby’s Integrity Unit and now heading the International Tennis Integrity Agency’s new legal department. Ben has a significant amount of experienced in sports …

In August 2021, Stats Perform partnered with data-ethics brand Signify to launch an AI and data learning project with the aim of detecting and monitoring online abuse aimed at athletes, organisations, sporting bodies and more.Stats Perfrom CEO Carl Mergele branded the partnership as a headline project for Stats Perform, and stated: “Sports integrit…

Oliver Hunt is a founding partner of Onside Law. Before establishing Onside Law, Oliver worked in-house at IMG and has since gone onto to advertise some of the world’s top professional athletes, particularly in golf and football. He has acted for Sir Nick Faldo for over 20 years, as well as for Rory McIlroy on his ground-breaking Nike deal in 2012 …

As part of our AMA series earlier in the year, we recorded a session with Daniel Geey (Partner, Sheridans) and Cynthia Mumbo (Founder & CEO, Sports Connect Africa) on how to develop your sports and legal network. This session was designed to help people develop the human skills (Simon Sinek), which are often mistakenly referred to as "soft skills".…

In this two-part series, Andrew L. Lee of counsel and a litigation and business attorney with Foley & Lardner LLP talks about his 20 years of experience in the sports, media, and entertainment industries, both in-house and as an outside advisor. Andy began his legal career working at a prestigious New York City law firm and was a member of its dist…

In this two-part series, Andrew L. Lee of counsel and a litigation and business attorney with Foley & Lardner LLP talks about his 20 years of experience in the sports, media, and entertainment industries, both in-house and as an outside advisor. Andy began his legal career working at a prestigious New York City law firm and was a member of its dist…

This episode highlights the work Hogan Lovells & Global Disability Innovation Hub (GDIH) and other partners are doing to support the fantastic project, Para Sport Against Stigma, a four-year collaborative project that will include free-to-air (FTA) broadcasting of the Tokyo 2020 Paralympic Games to 49 Sub-Saharan African countries provided by the I…

Alastair is an experienced litigation lawyer for LEVEL, who acts on behalf of sophisticated clients in all forms of dispute resolution, with a particular focus on sports law and arbitration. He has acted on a broad range of commercial disputes, advising clients on complex issues – from contractual matters to questions of public law – across multipl…

Mark Conrad is Associate Professor of Law and Ethics at Fordham University’s Gabelli School of Business, where he directs its sports business concentration. In addition to his full-time responsibilities at Fordham, Professor Conrad has served as an adjunct professor at Columbia University’s master’s program in Sports Management where he teaches int…

Will Deller is a Senior Associate in Bird & Bird's market-leading media, entertainment and sport team. As a junior associate Will also founded the firm's rapidly growing esports practice. He now advises some of the biggest names in sport on issues ranging from media rights, sponsorship and event staging, through to image rights, advertising and mer…

Erika Montemor Ferreira is a Brazilian lawyer who specialized in Sports law. She has previously worked at UEFA as Legal Counsel where she dealt with Disciplinary and financial fair play matters.She is currently the head of FIFA Players’ Status Department, responsible for the resolution of contractual disputes, training compensation, international t…

Nandan is Principal Lawyer at LawNK, based in Bangalore, India. His practice specialises in sports, technology and media laws, with clients ranging from international and national sports federations, to leagues, teams, sponsors and athletes.He is a recipient of the prestigious Rashtriya Khel Protsahan award from the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Spor…

Catherine Ordway, PhD, Sport Integrity Research Lead, Professor at University of Canberra (Sports Management) and Author of Restoring Trust in Sport and Senior Fellow at the University of Melbourne, having developed and lectured in Sports Integrity and Investigations, in the Sports Law program since 2014.She has developed and taught a number of oth…

Alex Kelham is an an experienced commercial and IP lawyer and is the Head of Lewis Silkin's Sports Business Group. Although Alex has particular expertise in the sports sector, Alex also advises brands, marketing agencies and other IP rich businesses on a range of commercial, brand and marketing issues.Alex's sport clients include federations, teams…

Alan Darfi is the Chief Executive Officer at the Herefordshire Football Association. Previously he held roles in private practice and sports organisation including positions as Director at Rugby League European Federation, Director of Projects and Legal at The Rugby Football League and various roles at The Football Association (England FA).He also …

Josep Vandellos is the Founder/Partner, Vandellos Sports Law with extensive experience in international sports law. During the last ten years, his practice has entirely focused on representing athletes, clubs, national associations, agents and coaches in front of the different dispute resolution bodies and the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Laus…

Daniel Stuk is a Senior Legal Counsel with Tennis Australia, who successfully ran the 2021 Australian Open during a global pandemic. Daniel speaks of the logistical and legal challenges he faced in running a sporting event with spectators during the Covid-19 crisis; and, the personal and professional lessons learned from this experience. Topics1:01…

Norman Wain is General Counsel, Chief of Business Affairs at USA Track & Field which is the national governing body for the sport of track and field, long distance running, and race walking in the United States, since July 2010. His responsibilities include overseeing the USATF legal department (negotiating all contracts, managing corporate governa…

This episode is a recording of the LawInSport webinar with 11 legal and commercial experts analysing the legal fallout from the attempted breakaway European Super League.Despite most of the clubs pulling out of the initiative, the issues covered by our expert spearer will continue to be relevant over the coming weeks and months. The session attract…

Achta Mahamat Saleh is the Director of Legal Affairs & Compliance Confederation Africaine de Football (CAF). Achta has an impressive and inspiring journey into sports law. Having completed her Masters in Law in International Trade/Business Law from the University of Bordeaux in 2006 before securing a role as Legal Counsel at FIFA (2008-2010). Follo…

Marianne Clayton and Maria Segura are specialist State aid lawyers and experts who represent sports organisations on State aid cases. Both have worked in senior positions at the Competition and State Aid Directorate of the EFTA Surveillance Authority (Maria - Former Deputy Director, Marianne - Former Senior Officer).In this interview Marianne and M…

Aahna Mehrotra is the founder and principal lawyer at AM Sports Law & Management Co. She serves as the Chairperson on the National Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel and is a member of the Arbitrational Tribunal constituted by Football Delhi. Aahna played cricket for the India Under-19 women’s team and several other sports at the state level. Aahna is …

Álvaro Gómez de la Vega Jiménez is the sports legal manager at RCD Espanyol de Barcelona S.A.D. Álvaro speaks to LawInSport’s CEO, Sean Cottrell, about:1:42 - Getting into football and sports law8:25 - Being prepared for transitioning into football9:46 - Dealing with legal issues for a club with a small legal budget11:30 - Lessons from working at M…

For this second LawInSport Sports Law News Roundtable our guests discuss the legal implications of the reported potential litigation from retired rugby players against the governing bodies in England & Wales; and, compare the similarities and differences between this situation and the NFL case and the potential legal issues the case presents. Our g…

For the 100th podcast, the tables are turned on LawInSport's Founder, CEO and podcast host, Sean Cottrell, as he is interviewed by Gabriella Lowe about the 10 year anniversary of LawInSport and looks back over what LawInSport has achieved since its conception. 1:04 - Some highlights of LawInSpot over the last 10 years7:52 - Why he first set up LawI…

Stephen O'Flaherty (@OFlahertySJP) is a Managing Associate and immigration specialist on the movement of players and coaches in the sports industry at Lewis Silkin. He works in the sport, fashion & entertainment and technology sectorsIn this interview Stephen talks to Sean Cottrell, LawInSport CEO & Founder, about how Brexit will effect the transfe…

LawInSport · Sarah Solémalé, Senior Governance Services Manage, FIFA Sarah Solémalé is the Senior Governance Service Manager at FIFA. Sarah speaks to LawInSport’s founder and CEO, Sean Cottrell, about:- transitioning from art to law;- interviewing and securing a legal role at FIFA;- the differences between the roles and responsibilities of a lawyer…

In this podcast LawInSport Founder and CEO, Sean Cottrell gives advice on how to become a sports lawyer and the nuances of the advice provided in his popular article 'Top 10 tips to become a sports lawyer'https://www.lawinsport.com/topics/features/item/top-10-tips-on-how-to-become-a-sports-lawyer-2-0.Sean is joined by his colleague Gabriella Lowe w…

Andrew Steele, Olympic Athlete and Head of Product at DNAFit/Prenetics International, who are conducting the COVID-19 testing for The Premier League amongst other organisation, and their lawyer, Stephen Taylor Heath, Head of Sports Law at JMW Solicitors. Andrew and Stephen talk to Sean Cottrell, LawInSport CEO & Founder about the challenges and log…

This the first episode of LawInSport Sports Law News RoundTable podcast brings together experts to discuss current legal events in sport. Our guest for this episode are Danielle Sharkey (Associate at Charles Russell Speechlys), Steven Bainbridge (Partner and head of sports & events management at Al Tamimi & Co.) and Nandan Kamath (Principal lawyer …

Our guest today is Ricky Volante. Ricky is the Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of the PCL (The Professional Collegiate League) which is the first professional collegiate sports league. He is also the Founder of The Volante Law Firm, a boutique firm focused on sports, entertainment, and corporate law.In this interview Ricky speaks to LawInSpo…

This is a recording of a webinar hosted following the horrific execution of champion Iranian wrestler, Navid Afkari. This tragic event pulls into sharp focus the role of sport in promoting peace and protecting athletes around the world. SpeakersRob Koehler, Director General, Global AthleteBrendan Schwab, Executive Director, World Players Associatio…

Takuya Yamazki is one of Japan's leading sports lawyers. In this interview Takuya describes difficulties the COVID-19 pandemic has on the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympic Games. He puts forward a compelling argument that this is the time to rethink exclusive centralised business model of the Olympics, Paralympics, and sport more generally, and move to …