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

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 Russell). After this, Caroline joined what was then B.A.R (British American Racing) as Legal Director and as a member of the senior management team. Caroline was part of the Management team who undertook a buy out of the team from Honda in 2009 to create Brawn GP which went on to win both the Constructors’ and Drivers’ World Championships in that year (whilst she was a shareholder and director of the team). The team was purchased by Daimler in 2010 and competes as the Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team. Caroline’s role at Mercedes expanded beyond a pure legal role when she became the Director of Legal and Commercial Affairs. She however continued to manage all legal aspects of the successful operation of a Formula One team, including negotiating drivers’ contracts, sponsorship and regulatory matters. In December 2016 Caroline took the leap into football to undertake a new challenge, having been in Formula One for 13 years, when she joined Leicester City Football Club as their first General Counsel before moving on to the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games. In the podcast Caroline discusses: 2:09 - Why she got into law and transitioning into an in-house role 11:22 - The lessons and skills she learnt working in private practice 14:17 - Having a mentality of always wanting to improve 15:05 - How she manages people and teams 19:23 - Her time at Mercedes F1 team and what she took from the experience 21:45 - Being a working mum in a high performance environment 22:21 - Leadership skills she values 33:44 - Working at Leicester City FC 40:21 - How the working structure in football differs to F1 44:54 - Her role at the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games 57:10 - The importance of volunteering in the legal space 1:04:09 - The important characteristics she looks for in colleagues 1:10:11 - Her advice to private practice lawyers when pitching for 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

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 teams, Olympic athletes and sports federations. Recently, Daan & Sven advised Kevin de Bruyne during his latest contract renewal with Manchester City, a deal that made headlines because of the player's decision to negotiate the contract without an agent and to use data analytics in order to seek a wage raise. In this interview Daan and Sven talk about: 1:59 - The type of work that Atfield do 5:05 - The key developments of sports law & football in Belgium; 9:32 - The background to the approach taken to advising Kevin De Bruyne on his contract renewal 15:24 - Pros and cons of a player having a professional team vs football agent 24:05 - How can players ensure the team they have around them is working in their best interest? 26:43 - Thoughts on the upcoming changes to FIFA's agents regulations and what they hope to see be incorporated 31:54 - Advice for football agents given the changing legal, regulatory and commercial landscape 34:24 - The importance of data for professionals working in football Sven is a labour and social security lawyer who specialises in sports. He is a partner at ALTIUS and advises on all aspects of employment, sports litigation and arbitration. He has almost 20 years of experience and as a trusted advisor to many different stakeholders, he is well versed in the day-to-day issues that many in the sports sector struggle with. Sven is a member of the International Football Association (AIAF) and he is also the former director of a professional football club. He lectures and publishes on FIFA regulations, working with intermediaries, (business) transfers, civil liability for sports injuries, cross border employment contracts and much more. He is ranked in Chambers, praised by Legal500 for his expertise in sports law and recognized as a Global Leader in Sports by Who’s Who Legal. Daan is a partner at Tiberghien and heads the Sports & Tax department. As a tax lawyer, he focuses on Belgian and cross-border tax issues for both Belgian resident and non-resident athletes. Daan assists some of the biggest sportsmen/women and their families with their ongoing international affairs and end-of-career planning. He has particular expertise in coordinating an athlete’s relocation every step of the way and providing tax advice on the taxation of income received from clubs, sponsoring bodies and promotors. Daan also frequently advises clubs on all matters relating to Belgian and international tax law.   We thoroughly enjoyed the interview and took a lot away from it. We hope you do the same.    The host is Sean Cottrell (@spcott), CEO of LawInSport and is co-hosted by Manan Agrawal (@Manan1Agrawal), Editor at LawInSport.    For more sports law news, commentary and analysis go to LawInSport.com https://www.lawinsport.com/   Upcoming Events: https://www.lawinsport.com/sports-law-events LawInSport Recruitment: https://www.lawinsport.com/jobs LawInSport Annual Conference: https://www.lawinsport.com/sports-law-events/upcoming-events/conference/114-annual-conference-understand-the-rules-of-the-game-2021 LawInSport Academy Mentoring Scheme: https://www.lawinsport.com/announcements   Follow us on Twitter @LawInSport and Sean at @spcott. Listen to podcast on: 1.     Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/lawinsport 2.     iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/lawinsport-sports-law-podcast/id655761738?mt=2 3.     Most Android podcast apps. 4.     Spotify

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 partners at DLA Piper of South Asian descent sat down to discuss their own personal and professional reflections of the recent Azeem Rafiq testimony, together with practical guidance on how to create inclusive workplaces. We sat down with Sohail Ali and Gurpreet Duhra to talk through more around their personal experiences of discrimination in both sport and in law in the UK along with their professional experience for both athletes and sports organisations on dealing with discrimination.  Sohail Ali is a partner at DLA Piper and is also a LawInSport Editorial Board Member. He is a litigation and arbitration lawyer who advises a wide range of corporate clients, including sports bodies and organisations. He's also a steering member of the firm’s race and ethnicity network, Mosaic, and co-leads the firm's client engagement on diversity and inclusion. Gurpreet Duhra, is also a partner at DLA Piper. His practice includes a broad range of work, including workplace restructuring, senior executive issues, investigations of diversity and inclusion, collective employment issues and employment disputes more broadly. He has experience of protecting businesses against unlawful competition and misuse of confidential information by employees.  We hope you enjoy the conversation as much as we did, and if you would like to watch the video of our conversation with Sohail and Gurpreet or read the transcript, please go to www.lawinsport.com If you have any related questions or feedback, then please don’t hesitate to contact us. If you would like to write for LawInSport on any particular topics, please do get in contact and email us at editor@lawinsport.com.

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 and was 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 visiting professor lecturing Sports Law in Law Schools abroad such as ISDE in Madrid and St. Johns in New York, a member of the Ilustre y Nacional Colegio de Abogados de México, and coordinator of its Sports Law Section. He is also a LawInSport Editorial Board members. In this interview, Ricardo talks to Sean Cottrell, LawInSport CEO about: 2:10 - His view on the current state of sports law in Mexico 5:26 - The employment rights situation in Mexico 10:47 - His career and his journey in sports law 19:00 - How did he get involved with being an arbitrator and being an arbitrator for CAS 21:45 - The political landscape in Mexican sports 30:14 - Getting his first cases as a CAS arbitrator 32:20 - The Paola Pliego fencing case he worked on 42:03 - His most interesting case an an arbitrator 45:32 - Highlight of his career to date 48:33 - Advice to aspiring arbitrators/sports lawyers 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

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 industries, including sports and entertainment, media, telecommunications, technology, travel, hospitality, manufacturing, healthcare, and business advisory and financial services Mark has recently advised MLS team, Inter Miami on the recapitalisation buyout of majority owners which you can read about here. In this interview, Mark talks to Sean Cottrell, LawInSport CEO and Chris Bond, LawInSport Editorial Director, about: 1:42 - The US sports investment landscape, finance structures and why limited liability partnerships are used to invest in sport. 5:41 - How are funds being developed to invest in sports based assets? (listeners may be more familiar with longer term / evergreen funds) 10:00 - The unique features of investing in professional teams 12:21 - Why funds take a minority investment without any influence in US major league teams. 13:49 - The rules on controlling interests in major league teams 18:14 - How investment strategies are adapted for teams in open and closed leagues 20:23 - What are some of the challenges and some of the benefits that come along with private equity investment? 25:14 - How can leagues balance competing the desire of private investment to see a return on their investment and the long term success of the league? 30:03 - Is it fun being a private equity lawyer working in sport? 32:05 - What are the hot properties from an investment fund perspective and what are they looking for in their deals? 38:11 - Which sports are furthest ahead? 40:00 - Do you see the funds looking at multi-sport ownership particularly internationally, being the model going forward? 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

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 well as in advising intermediaries and other sports agents. From 2020, she is an external consultant for FIFA´s Professional Football department. Bellver won a Miki Roqué Prize “Peace Through Sport” in 2017 for her associative work with a focus on gender issues and the defense of equality in sports. She is the co-founder and President of a Platform called: Leadership Woman Football, created in 2018 to promote the leadership and the visibility of women in football, embracing all the fields and areas of sports, Bellver is committed to gender equality and diversity in football. In this podcast Reyes talks about her career path into sports law, co-founding Leadership Women's Football and dealing with work-life balance. In this podcast Reyes talks about her career path into sports law, co-founding Leadership Women's Football and dealing with work-life balance. Topics: How she got into sports law How she built her own legal practice Why she started Leadership Women Football (LWF) The legal issues that interest her the most at the moment The most interesting case she has worked on How she approaches juggling work commitments and family life? As someone who is driving change in the sector, what is the one thing she would change in sports law if she could 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

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 law, with experience across corruption, betting, anti-doping, governance, discipline and athlete education in particular. He has worked on various committees and projects with the IOC, WADA, UN and INTERPOL on matters of anti-doping and corruption in sport. In this podcast Ben talks about his extensive career working in-house in sport, shares insights into his role and the work of the ITIA. He also discusses the trends and developments he is seeing with regards to matters of sports integrity. 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

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 integrity needs to be expanded to include online abuse, given its impact on competing athletes and organisations.” In this podcast Sean talks to Stats Perform Senior Integrity Manager Nick Iliffe and Signify CEO Jonathan Hirshler to discuss the aim of their partnership, tackling online abuse and what we all can do to stop discrimination in sport. If you enjoyed this podcast please check out our upcoming Annual Conference here which will include a panel on 'creating a more unified approach to addressing discrimination in sport'. Topics: 1:52 - How and why did the relationship between Stats Perform & Signify come about 12:15 - Do sports organisations have the money to tackle these problems? 14:26 - Report for the PFA report on online abuse 19:13 - Addressing the different aspects of the game 24:04 - Should organisations have a policy to deal with profiling and report on abuse cases like they do with ambushing marketing? 32:55 - How do they Stats Perform & Signify when there is potential harm? 35:40 - How do they equip individuals with the tools to combat the issues? 37:47 - Is a collaborative approach necessary in sport to combat discrimination? 40:07 - What action would they like to see happen in combating discrimination? 45:15 - The importance of data and having the right processes in place 48:02 - Adding economic value to harm from online abuse to help persuade executives to take more action 53:39 - What is currently the biggest barrier to solving these issues? 58:01 - Should players being involved in any solution? 1:01:43 - How can we celebrating those who want/are doing great work in this are? 1:07:40 - The need for younger people to be educated 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

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 and advising Ryder Cup Europe on the bidding processes for the 2018 and 2022 Ryder Cups. Oliver forms part of Eden Hazard’s management team and played a significant role in his move to Real Madrid in 2019 and he helps manage Matt Fitzpatrick, and other clients include Jadon Sancho, Tommy Fleetwood, Red Bull Racing and Leeds United. In this podcast Oliver talks about his career path into sports law, starting a sports law practise from scratch and how to build long last relationships with clients. Topics: 2:50 - His journey into the industry first interaction with sports law 6:20 - His time at IMG 8:20 - Establishing Onside Law 16:25 - The challenges of growing a business 19:00 - Discussing a lawyer's role within a player transfer 24:30 - His management of Eden Hazard and the advantages of having a management team over an agent 31:00 - His opinion on agents regulations 37:10 - His thoughts on what makes a good agent 39:08 - NFT's and the new money that has entered the sports industry 44:50 - What characteristics he looks for in colleagues 47:30 - How to build relationships with clients 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 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". The topics which were covered were: What are the basics of networking Approaching networking in a natural and organic way to build meaningful relationship that lasts over time; Networking remotely via Email  Social networking Online Events In-person networking at events Social events Conferences Seminars Finding the right community Contacting someone you think is unreachable such as executives, thought leaders, athletes, etc  Breaking through perceived and real closed communities Networking with other lawyers Networking with sports professionals and athletes/players Things to do and not to do 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 LawInSport Recruitment Follow us on Twitter @LawInSport Listen to podcast on: Soundcloud iTunes Spotify