SPORTS
LAW

Modern sports require a professional approach at all levels of participation, including legal participation. We provide services in the field of representation of athletes, sports clubs and sports associations, and representation of the sponsors.

In the course of one’s career, an athlete must be focused on achieving the best possible results. Therefore, our office provides you management of all legal matters related to an athlete’s career: from representation in arbitration proceedings – both domestic and foreign, conclusion of sponsorship contracts to tax issues and legal arrangements in asset management.

Sports clubs and associations are advised on how to form their own rules in compliance with the European Union law and modern trends in the world of sports business. At the same time, we advise and negotiate on their behalf when concluding commercial arrangements such as sponsorships, television rights, organization of events, etc.

We advise sponsors and other investors and negotiate on their behalf to maximize their investment in all phases – in finding partners, negotiating with them and finalizing agreements.

Prevention and resolution of conflicts is a central point of our work. We represent our clients before internal bodies of federations and associations, as well as before national courts and international arbitration courts such as the Basketball Arbitration Tribunal (BAT) within the International Basketball Federation (FIBA), the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and the Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) within the International Football Federation (FIFA). We provide our clients with excellent representation both in Slovenia and abroad – also in collaboration with other specialized law firms.

Events are an indispensable part of recreational and professional sports. We advise our clients in preparation of legal and conceptual solutions when they compete for hosting of a national or international sport event or when they intend to organize and execute it themselves. Our office has extensive experience of participating in organizing sports events and advising organizers, sponsors and other stakeholders of sporting events.

The sports industry is the fastest developing and the fastest growing industry in the world. In the constantly changing environment of sports transactions, the important part of our work is advising right holders and business partners in concluding sponsorship contracts, marketing contracts and licensing. By creating clear rules in establishing relationships between the right holders and partners, we advise our clients in protecting their business interests and thus set up conditions for the development of a long-term cooperation.

The core of our work is protection of personality and intellectual property of our clients. Our counselling extends from adequate protection and taking action in cases of so called ambush marketing to the care of the lawful use of personal rights of athletes.

A good reputation is an invaluable asset of our clients and a substantial building block of their personal brand. We are aware of the importance of the reputation gained by our clients with their hard work and countless secrifices; therefore, we advise them on managing, protecting and building their reputation.

An important area of our work is managing the reputation of our clients both in relation to the media and in relation to other stakeholders, such as clubs and associations. We advise them in cases of conflict with a club or association, false news, disclosure of personal information, and all other situations when a public announcement could harm their reputation.

We approach the maintaining of a good reputation proactively, while our key guideline in addressing reputation threats is discretion.

An athlete transfer to a foreign club is linked to a number of issues, such as the residence rights, permit to play or compete and taxation. Our office provides expert advisory services in registration of players, transfer agreements, compensation, termination of contracts and other legal issues related to a transfer.

By providing advice to federations, associations, clubs and leagues in preparing and implementing their statutes, rules and regulations, we are laying foundations for our clients. Forming understandable and legally incontestable rules and regulations is of crucial importance for their successful implementation. In this context, we offer our services to sports organizations in their
development, modification and transformation of key rules in individual disciplines, including disciplinary rules and rules of commercial nature.