Latest Trends in Sports Law in Europe and the United States - Views from Both Sides of the Atlantic

Sports law has attracted increasing attention from the international community over the past few years. This UIA seminar is intended to create a bridge between both sides of the Atlantic in breaking barriers between common and civil law jurisdictions. Current trends show interesting developments such as US based sports events in major leagues brought to Europe, coaches and sports officials moving to the US, or the Safe Harbor ruling and its consequences for US/European companies.

Panels of renowned professionals will discuss the latest developments in sports law in Europe and in the United States. Several in-house counsel of US sports teams and leagues have confirmed their presence. They will address the needs of their respective sports and will be available to answers the questions of the participants.

A key theme will be the protection of integrity in sports from two angles: first, the governance of sports federations (in the light of what is happening at FIFA and the implications for others sports) and financial integrity; second, integrity of sports competitions, in particular to avoid match fixing and other frauds affecting the betting industry.  The protection of rights will also be considered in looking at media, image and trademarks rights, ambush marketing and customer data collection. Transgender competitors, fantasy sports, salary caps or doping techniques represent new challenges which will be addressed to assess whether new regulations will be needed in the future. Finally, dispute resolution will be covered with recent examples and trends in the US and in Europe (including with presentations of the Court of Arbitration for Sport and illustrations of the pros and cons of resolving sports disputes through arbitration).

This event will offer the participants with different legal backgrounds a unique forum to discuss hot topics and meet lawyers and in-house counsel active in the sports field.

Seminar organised by the UIA Sports Law Commission