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posted 8 years ago
By: Kyriakos Constantinou, Associate of Michael Kyprianou
& Co. LLC
It is
commonly accepted that Sports Industry in Cyprus has been rocketing over the
last years due to the huge commercialization of all areas of sport. Society’s
dependence in sports and the professionalism of sports industry created the
need not only for professional athletes and specialized sports directors but
also for expert and experienced Legal Advisors, in order to protect the
underlying rights of “sportsmen”, investors and all parties involved.
Why seek
for specialized legal advice?
The “old
fashioned” impression that Sports Law area is limited and rotates only around
the regulations of the playing field has been substituted by the contemporary
approach that along with the understanding of sports’ community, Sports law
requires unique knowledge on a variety of legal matters. It cannot be approached remotely from other
areas of law, such as intellectual property law, corporate law, tax law,
employment law, immigration law etc. On the contrary it can benefit from the
“co-existence” with them.
Areas of
potential benefit
Plethora of parameters
of the Sports Law has evolved overtime. With the support of the appropriate
legal assistance different pools of interested parties can benefit from these:
a. Investors
The previous sport
context is substituted by the modern, more commercialized environment in both
global and domestic level. Sports arena can be approached as another route for
investment through sponsorship and advertisement and most importantly, due to
its publicity, it can be considered as a promising and profitable area for
investment.
A new
framework of commercial marketing has been developed which creates
opportunities for investment in areas such as Sport T.V. Rights (which fall
under the umbrella of Intellectual Property law), Sport Clubs’ shares (the
majority of clubs have evolved into companies) and advertisement.
The market
for sponsorships in sports is becoming increasingly sophisticated and is
continuously growing. A specialized lawyer can provide assistance during the
negotiations between corporation and sporting entities on a range of
sponsorship rights and advice rights holders and commercial partners on
concluding sponsorship, merchandising and licensing agreements.
Sponsorship
is a mutually beneficial relationship. A lawyer can act as an Intermediary and
offer guidance in achieving the desirable balance between the aims of the
parties involved. His background can be used to build a bridge between the
parallel worlds of commercial sport and financial investment.
b. Sportsmen – Sport Clubs:
How can an
athlete/sport client benefit from the assistance of a specialized Sport Lawyer?
The
continuous mobility of athletes between different teams in conjunction with the
length and complexity of the contracts entails a variety of legal issues.
Legally authorized practicing lawyers can represent any athlete/club at any
contract negotiation. Lawyers are in a position to skillfully answer questions
about termination of agreements, players’ registrations, transfer agreements
etc.
The
broad-horizon of sports sector renders it “vulnerable” to risks and therefore
any advisor should not be limited only to sector specific experience. Legal
representation safeguards that cases will be approached from different
perspectives and will combine knowledge with other related areas of law such as
banking and finance law, tax law, corporate law, employment law, immigration
law, intellectual property etc. Hence a Lawyer can act as a personal legal
advisor on a vast range of legal matters.
In addition
to the aforementioned, the represented party/parties can benefit from the
existing cycle of work of a Law Firm and its global and domestic network.
c. Sport Organizations/Associations
Sport environment
depends on many variables which can change overnight the norms, processes and
eventually the regulations in disciplinary and other areas. Specialized legal
assistance can be provided for the technical drafting field, where changes need
to take place in order to meet the surrounding needs.
In parallel
with this ever-changing environment, the governing structures of the respective
sport bodies need to adhere to the new demands and proceed to the relevant
adjustments to their management policies and decisions. Legal consulting
services can be provided with regards to good governance practices, which will
not be limited only to the sport legal field but also expand to the legal
parameters of financing and developing a sport body.
Further to
these and in compliance with the common general responsibilities of a lawyer, he
can represent clients before domestic and international Disciplinary
Committees/Courts for disciplinary, anti-doping matters as well as for disputes
and infringement issues.
Based on
relevant experience in the corporate section specialized assistance can also be
provided for the registration of Sport Organizations and the establishment of
companies e.g. sports clubs, betting companies etc.
Conclusion
Sports are
considered to be one of the most prominent and emerging areas. As it is evident
from the aforementioned, with the appropriate legal guidance someone can
exploit its increasing upward trend and “absorb” any advantage may derive.
Michael
Kyprianou & Co LLC, with vast experience in a great range of legal areas
can provide legal, technical and administrative assistance to anyone interested
in the following sub-sectors of Sports Law: (1) Advertising sponsorship and
marketing; (2) Players’ contracts, Agency representation; (3) Disciplinary
hearings, anti-doping hearings; (4) Sports governance and Regulatory matters;
(5) Sports Law Disputes; (6) Ticketing, betting and gaming issues; (7) TV
rights; (8) Registration of New Sporting Entities as well as other related
areas of law such as Intellectual Property, Immigration, Contracts law and Tax.
Our Firm with
its dedicated team, its strong background in the legal field and its wide
network can provide the highest quality of assistance to each party through-out
the whole process.
The content
of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter.
Specialist advice should be sought on your specific circumstances. For further
information, please contact Kyriakos Constantinou at kyriakos@kyprianou.com.cy
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