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, athletes, coaches, etc) having a range of expertise available at them. and the wider trend of global disputes in sport.

Key Points

• John discusses his move to Fountain Court Chambers and why this exciting for him personally, his chambers, and the sports law market. (2:26)

• The growth and development of sports law as a practice area and its increasing importance in the global sports industry. (3:53)

• The impact of John's move on the market and the potential for increased competition and improved representation for athletes, governing bodies, and sponsors, etc. (6:29)

• The changes to scale of the sports law market and the need for sports stakeholders to having more options for high-quality legal services, which can be beneficial for regulators and sports organisations, athletes, coaches, etc. (8:52)

• The trends in global disputes in sports, and why there will be a greater need to more wider expertise legal teams, especially with cross-jurisdictional issues becoming more common (22:31)

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 why he started working in sport.

The biggest challenge to players when he first started representing players and helped establish the Professional Footballers Australia.

His journey to become Executive Director of the World Players Association.

His biggest influences in professional and personally.

What he considers to be biggest achievement of his career.

The future of Player Unions in the coming years.

Advice to anyone inspired to be involved helping players.

Referenced by Brendan in the interview:

Jim Collins book Good to Great

The Uluru Statement Fro The Hear: https://ulurustatement.org/the-statement/#:~:text=The%20Uluru%20Statement%20from%20the%20Heart,-The%20Uluru%20Statement&text=It%20asks%20Australians%20to%20walk,treaty%20making%20and%20truth%2Dtelling.

Bobby Kennedy - day of affirmation speech: https://www.jfklibrary.org/learn/about-jfk/the-kennedy-family/robert-f-kennedy/robert-f-kennedy-speeches/day-of-affirmation-address-university-of-capetown-capetown-south-africa-june-6-1966

Biography

Brendan is Australian chief executive officer, lawyer and non-executive director working across the labour movement, human rights, sports, and business, internationally and domestically. An architect of the global and Australian player association movements as a co-founder of the World Players Association, FIFPRO Asia / Oceania, the Australian Athletes’ Alliance (AAA) and Professional Footballers Australia (PFA).

He has represented and worked with the strongest player associations in the world in sports such as football, rugby, rugby league, cricket, Australian rules, American football, hockey, basketball, and baseball as well as multiple teams and athletes, including Australia’s Socceroos and Matildas.

Throughout a 30-year career, he has also played an important role in the transformation of Australian football built on the creation of a new governing body, new professional leagues, collective bargaining, engagement with Asia, and gender equality.

The host is Sean Cottrell (@spcott), founder and CEO of LawInSport.

For more sports law news, commentary and analysis go to LawInSport.com

Upcoming Events: www.lawinsport.com/sports-law-events

LawInSport Recruitment: www.lawinsport.com/careers/recruitment-services.

LawInSport Academy Mentoring Scheme: www.lawinsport.com/announcements

Follow us on Twitter @LawInSport and Sean at @spcott.

Listen to podcast on:

Soundcloud: @lawinsport

iTunes: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/lawl…rts-law-podcast

Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/7zNCAlkXxL2…knQeSAKSdXKUL2kA

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 has an extensive experience of, and is an authority in, sports law and in commercial arbitration at international and national level, both as an arbitrator and as a counsel.

He has been involved in almost 400 arbitration proceedings (mostly international). He also has been frequently involved in regulatory matters such as antitrust and energy, as well as in entertainment law issues.

He is frequently retained as legal advisor or counsel by international and national federations, leagues, clubs, teams, agents and athletes of various sports. Within football, in particular, Mr. Coccia was appointed as the Interim Vice-Commissioner of the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) in 2006-2007, in the wake of a match-fixing scandal and authored important reforms of the rules and governance of FIGC.

Since 1995, Massimo Coccia has been an arbitrator at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), where he is regarded as one of the most experienced arbitrators, having sat in about 300 cases and drafted many prominent awards, having also been a CAS arbitrator at the Olympic Games of Salt Lake City 2002, Turin 2006 and London 2012.

Massimo Coccia is also a tenured law professor, teaching International Law at the Tuscia University of Viterbo as well as European Competition Law at the University of Rome Sapienza. Massimo also frequently teaches in graduate courses and seminars on international and national sports law. He has published extensively on issues of sports law, international arbitration, international trade law and EU law, and is often invited to speak at symposia on those subjects.

The host is Sean Cottrell (@spcott), founder and CEO of LawInSport.

For more sports law news, commentary and analysis go to LawInSport.com

Upcoming Events: www.lawinsport.com/sports-law-events

LawInSport Recruitment: www.lawinsport.com/careers/recruitment-services.

LawInSport Academy Mentoring Scheme: www.lawinsport.com/announcements

Follow us on Twitter @LawInSport and Sean at @spcott.

Listen to podcast on:

Soundcloud: @lawinsport

iTunes: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/lawl…rts-law-podcast

Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/7zNCAlkXxL2…knQeSAKSdXKUL2kA

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 club licensing and stadium regulations.

We are joined by the following speakers:

Farai Razano, Attorney, Razano Attorneys

Brian Wesaala, Founder & Project Leader, Football Foundation for Africa

Abdallah Shehata, Attorney at Law, Sportiva Law

Muhammad Sidat, Head of Professional Football, Confederation of African Football

Cynthia Mumbo, Founder & CEO, Sports Connect Africa

Khayran Noor, Program Director, LawInSport

Sean Cottrell, CEO, LawInSport

In this podcast, our expert panel of speakers discuss:

The major changes and reforms adopted

How CAF plans to manage and oversee the implementation of the regulations

Do clubs have the resources to comply with the regulations?

The impact on African football

Implementation strategies to be adopted by clubs

We thoroughly enjoyed the interview and took a lot away from it. We hope you do the same. 

The host is Sean Cottrell (@spcott), founder and CEO of LawInSport.

For more sports law news, commentary and analysis go to LawInSport.com

Upcoming Events: www.lawinsport.com/sports-law-events

LawInSport Recruitment: https://www.lawinsport.com/careers/recruitment-services.

LawInSport Academy Mentoring Scheme: www.lawinsport.com/announcements

Follow us on Twitter @LawInSport and Sean at @spcott.

Listen to podcast on:

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/lawinsport

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/lawlnsport-sports-law-podcast

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7zNCAlkXxL2XEfypDApye8?si=nViULnknQeSAKSdXKUL2kA

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 Lombardi Associates, a boutique sports regulatory firm which acts for a range of football stakeholder clients including clubs, players, coaches, intermediaries, associations, leagues and investors, also providing external advice to law firms. Paolo currently assists a significant number of clubs in the Italian Serie A, as well as providing advice to Lega Serie A and a number of clubs in Scotland and England, and internationally. The area of focus being transfers, dispute resolution, breach of contract, training compensation and solidarity mechanism, registration of minors and more. In addition, he also assists clubs with both UEFA and national licensing issues, including proceedings before CAS. Paolo has been involved in a number of cases which have shaped the jurisprudence of CAS. Lombardi Associates has now been in active in the market for over 10 years.

Prior to Lombardi Associates, Paolo worked at FIFA joining the FIFA Players’ Status Department in 2002, becoming Deputy Head in 2006. He was responsible for players’ agents and involved in landmark cases, including Mexes, Webster, Mutu. In 2007 he was appointed Head of FIFA Disciplinary and Governance, overseeing disciplinary and governance matters both in-house and at various FIFA tournaments such as the Beijing Olympics and the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa. He was involved in the drafting and regular updating of all FIFA regulations relevant to his positions. 

Paolo is as Specialist Arbitrator for Sport Resolutions.

The host is Sean Cottrell (@spcott), founder and CEO of LawInSport.

For more sports law news, commentary and analysis go to LawInSport.com

Upcoming Events: www.lawinsport.com/sports-law-events

LawInSport Recruitment: www.lawinsport.com/careers/recruitment-services.

LawInSport Academy Mentoring Scheme: www.lawinsport.com/announcements

Follow us on Twitter @LawInSport and Sean at @spcott.

Listen to podcast on:

Soundcloud: @lawinsport

iTunes: podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/lawl…rts-law-podcast

Spotify: open.spotify.com/show/7zNCAlkXxL2…knQeSAKSdXKUL2kA

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 sporting event, stadium and arena construction and financing, the relocation of franchises, the transition of athletes from the playing field into business to focusing on diversity in sports.

He is the author of one of the foundational books focused on race and sports and another book on sports agents. He is also the co-author of one of the leading books on sport business used by business schools as well as one of the leading undergraduate sports law texts.

We thoroughly enjoyed the interview and took a lot away from it. We hope you do the same. 

The host is Sean Cottrell (@spcott), founder and CEO of LawInSport.

For more sports law news, commentary and analysis go to LawInSport.com

Upcoming Events: www.lawinsport.com/sports-law-events

LawInSport Recruitment: https://www.lawinsport.com/careers/recruitment-services.

LawInSport Academy Mentoring Scheme: www.lawinsport.com/announcements

Follow us on Twitter @LawInSport and Sean at @spcott.

Listen to podcast on:

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/lawinsport

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/lawlnsport-sports-law-podcast

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7zNCAlkXxL2XEfypDApye8?si=nViULnknQeSAKSdXKUL2kA

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 Wawrzyniak are lawyers at Schelstraete Equine Lawyers. Schelstraete Equine Lawyers is an international law firm specialized in (Equine) Sports Law and is a leading force in this field. In addition, Schelstraete Equine Lawyers is founder and part of the international Alliance Group ‘European-US-Asian Equine Lawyers’, a trendsetting alliance of the world’s best Equine Law Firms.

Luc has developed the equine legal business as a niche and today he operates as the Managing Partner of the Firm. He practices as legal counsel of  many international highly ranked multinational equine entrepreneurs, trainers, equine authorities, national federations and top athletes. 

Piotr leads the firm’s business section and represents clients in sports law related matters (including arbitration before the FEI Tribunal and CAS). He focuses on advising and negotiating commercial contracts, often with a cross-border element.

For info on the upcoming Equine Law Conference please see here.

We thoroughly enjoyed the interview and took a lot away from it. We hope you do the same. 

The host is Sean Cottrell (@spcott), founder and CEO of LawInSport.

For more sports law news, commentary and analysis go to LawInSport.com

Upcoming Events: www.lawinsport.com/sports-law-events

LawInSport Recruitment: https://www.lawinsport.com/careers/recruitment-services.

LawInSport Academy Mentoring Scheme: www.lawinsport.com/announcements

Follow us on Twitter @LawInSport and Sean at @spcott.

Listen to podcast on:

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/lawinsport

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/lawlnsport-sports-law-podcast

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7zNCAlkXxL2XEfypDApye8?si=nViULnknQeSAKSdXKUL2kA

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, Belfiore, Gomes, Hanna Advogados and his colleague Tiago Gomes.

Manssur participated in drafting several laws involving sporting activities, such as recently enacted Law 14,193/2021 which incentivises football clubs, currently incorporated as associations, to convert into corporations.

Francisco was also a Vice-President for communication and marketing of São Paulo Futebol Clube from 2015 to 2017.

He has experience in representing national and foreign clients in administrative and judicial litigation, advising football clubs, federations and leagues in various sports modalities in litigation and consulting, including ticket sales, broadcasting and incorporation of football clubs.

Tiago is also a lawyer at Ambiel, Manssur, Belfiore, Gomes, Hanna Advogados. He has professional experience in various segments of corporate law, helping national and international clients in the areas of mergers & acquisitions, antitrust matters, capital market transactions and infrastructure projects.

With a strong track record on corporate matters, Tiago is often engaged in corporate transactions, including incorporation of clubs and mergers and acquisitions, compliance and governance matters, he also has a special interest in matters involving public policy and sports education.

In this podcast they discuss:

Manssur's involvement in the new Football Corporations Law and why was it introduced

What football clubs will benefit the most new law and why

The political pressures of working in a Brazilian football club

How the new law applies in practice

Considerations for new investors

Financial incentives for clubs

How the new law has been received in Brazil

Advise for lawyers and sports business execs who are trying to push through similar governance reforms but are facing restrictions

The guests also delve into the details of the current governance system of football clubs in Brazil which necessitated this new Football Corporations Law here.

They provide an overview and a summary of the changes that the Football Corporations Law brings and how investors would be impacted by it in their article here.

We thoroughly enjoyed the interview and took a lot away from it. We hope you do the same. 

The host is Sean Cottrell (@spcott), founder and CEO of LawInSport.

For more sports law news, commentary and analysis go to LawInSport.com

Upcoming Events: www.lawinsport.com/sports-law-events

LawInSport Recruitment: https://www.lawinsport.com/careers/recruitment-services.

LawInSport Academy Mentoring Scheme: www.lawinsport.com/announcements

Follow us on Twitter @LawInSport and Sean at @spcott.

Listen to podcast on:

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/lawinsport

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/lawlnsport-sports-law-podcast

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7zNCAlkXxL2XEfypDApye8?si=nViULnknQeSAKSdXKUL2kA

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, sports agents and individual sporting professionals with a particular focus on football, boxing, mixed-martial arts and motor-racing. Mo advises on matters including: sponsorship and endorsement agreements, commercial partnerships, kit-supply contracts and player-agent representation agreements.

Mohit also places a significant focus on the continuing need for better education of athletes within various sports, and often cites the fact most athletes do not necessarily receive professional advice (or have access to advisors who have sport-sector expertise).

In the podcast Mohit discusses:

2:16 - The origins of the Sport & Entertainment at Mackrell.Solicitors

15:53 - Good and the bad of working in the boxing & MMA

24:05 - Overcoming that adversity and the challenges that came working in a sector that was not diverse

28:41 - How to deal with people constantly telling you you can't

32:27 - Supporting people who need advise

35:52 - How the law and sports sector can work on being more diverse and inclusive

42:08 - The benefits of doing pro-bono work

We thoroughly enjoyed the interview and took a lot away from it. We hope you do the same. 

The host is Sean Cottrell (@spcott), founder and CEO of LawInSport.

For more sports law news, commentary and analysis go to LawInSport.com

Upcoming Events: www.lawinsport.com/sports-law-events

LawInSport Recruitment: https://www.lawinsport.com/careers/recruitment-services.

LawInSport Academy Mentoring Scheme: www.lawinsport.com/announcements

Follow us on Twitter @LawInSport and Sean at @spcott.

Listen to podcast on:

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/lawinsport

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/lawlnsport-sports-law-podcast

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7zNCAlkXxL2XEfypDApye8?si=nViULnknQeSAKSdXKUL2kA

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 burgeoning billion-dollar esports industry. He is also a partner at GACP Sports, a sports-related private equity firm, and the chairman of Blue Devil Holdings, LLC, an international sports, media, and entertainment investment company.

Previously, Bobby served as a senior vice president of the Global Head of Basketball & Strategic Initiatives at IMG and as a vice president and general counsel at the NBA Development League at the National Basketball Association for almost a decade.

Bobby provides services to organizations, teams, leagues, and other stakeholders across all professional and amateur sports on a range of subjects, such as league development and governance, team sales and acquisitions, media, sponsorship, licensing, data use and privacy, and technology. His work includes a focus on the rapidly evolving business and legal issues in esports and its broad and complex range of stakeholders, including leagues and teams, game publishers, technology and software developers, investors, media distributors, sponsors, and merchandisers.

To read more about Bobby please click here - https://www.foley.com/en/people/s/sharma-bobby

To read more about the Sports & Entertainment Industry Team at Foley & Lardner LLP please click here - https://www.foley.com/en/services/industry-teams/sports

Foley & Lardner - Fourth Annual Esports Survey Report - https://www.foley.com/en/insights/publications/2022/01/fourth-annual-esports-survey-report

1:31 - Key highlights from the 4th Esports Annual Survey report

11:21 - Issues that are due to the fast pace of growth of the esports industry

20:05 - How are esports investment deals typically structured? What should investors or the targets be mindful of when closing deals?

27:20 - Esports adopting a franchise legal model

33:24 - Crypto and NFT's in esports

43:16 - Synergies between esports and traditional sports

47:16 - Views on the call by some people in eSports for a single overarching regulatory body

We thoroughly enjoyed the interview and took a lot away from it. We hope you do the same. 

The host is Sean Cottrell (@spcott), founder and CEO of LawInSport.

For more sports law news, commentary and analysis go to LawInSport.com

Upcoming Events: www.lawinsport.com/sports-law-events

LawInSport Recruitment: https://www.lawinsport.com/careers/recruitment-services.

LawInSport Academy Mentoring Scheme: www.lawinsport.com/announcements

Follow us on Twitter @LawInSport and Sean at @spcott.

Listen to podcast on:

Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/lawinsport

iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/lawlnsport-sports-law-podcast

Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/7zNCAlkXxL2XEfypDApye8?si=nViULnknQeSAKSdXKUL2kA