Sports Law
Overview
A career in sport is short and the paperwork outlasts it. What a contract says about termination, image and payment matters long after the season ends.
We act for athletes, clubs, agents and sports organisations on the agreements that govern their relationships: playing and coaching contracts, representation and intermediary agreements, transfers and registration, and the commercial agreements that sit around them.
We also act when those relationships are tested - in regulatory and disciplinary proceedings before sports bodies, and in disputes that reach a tribunal or a court.
What we advise on
Negotiating and drafting playing and coaching contracts: term, remuneration and bonuses, obligations during and outside the season, injury and illness, and the grounds on which either side may end the contract early.
Representation and intermediary agreements between athletes, clubs and agents: the scope of the mandate, exclusivity, how and when commission is earned, and what happens when the mandate ends.
Sponsorship, endorsement and image rights agreements: what is granted, for which territories and periods, the obligations each side takes on, and the exit and morality provisions.
Representation in proceedings before the bodies that regulate a sport, from the first notice through the hearing, and advice on the internal rules that apply to a club or an athlete.
Contractual and commercial disputes arising in sport, whether they are heard by a sports tribunal or by a court, including the enforcement of a decision once it has been obtained.
The transfer of a player between clubs and the registration that follows it: the transfer agreement, the terms between the player and the new club, and the timing the window imposes.
The agreements in play
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Playing contract
The agreement between an athlete and a club: what is to be performed, for how long, on what terms, and what happens when either side wants to end it early.
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Representation agreement
The agreement between an athlete or a club and an agent: the scope of the mandate, how and when the agent is paid, and whether the mandate is exclusive.
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Sponsorship agreement
The agreement granting a sponsor rights of name, image and association: what is granted, for which territories and periods, and what each side must and must not do.
Discuss your contract with our team.
Send us the agreement or the notice you have received and we will tell you where you stand.