Sports law
Professional sport is a complex and increasingly valuable business. In recent years domestic and international sports law have become a very specialized, requiring qualified sports lawyers.
Nova Law is an Oslo based law firm specialising in i.a. sports law. The sports law unit is led by partner and attorney at law Espen Auberg who specialises in sports law and arbitration. For the past eleven years Espen Auberg has been working exclusively with sports law and football law. Espen Auberg is a CAS arbitrator at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, a member of the UEFA Legal Committee, and chairman of the Norwegian Sports Law Association.
Nova Law has extensive experience in domestic and international sports law and dispute resolution. The sports lawyers in Nova Law provide legal assistance in sports law to athletes, clubs and others in the sports industry. Our law firm is located in Oslo, and we have clients from all over the world. Our clients benefit from our widespread expertise in the relatively narrow field of sports law.
Nova Law offers legal support in the following sports law areas:
Football related litigation and dispute resolution
Nova Law has sports lawyers with substantial experience in football related litigation and dispute resolution, involving clubs, players, managers, agents/intermediaries and other football stakeholders. The unique working relationship between a football club and a player, where the player, unlike other employees, is bound to the club for the entire contract period, requires a deep understanding for the football regulations as well as for national labour law and for dispute resolution mechanism when handling disputes.
Sports related disciplinary cases
Nova Law’s sports lawyers are frequently involved in national and international disciplinary cases, such as on-field incidents and alleged breaches of transfer regulations and disciplinary regulations, involving clubs, players, managers, coaches and international associations such as UEFA and FIFA. The football regulations, in particular the regulations of national associations as well as UEFA and FIFA regulations, can be complicated. Nova Law offers support to clubs, players and others who are involved in disciplinary cases.
Claims for transfer fees, training compensation and solidarity contribution
Every year close to 17,000 international transfers are concluded at a total cost of more than EUR seven billion. Quite a few of these transfers lead to disputes between clubs either because the transfer fee is not paid in full, or because claims for training compensation or solidarity contribution are not met. FIFA has established judicial bodies that are competent to handle these claims. Nova Law’s sports lawyers have the necessary expertise to successfully represent clubs in these processes.
Sponsorship agreements and marketing rights
Sponsorship agreements and marketing rights agreements allows a company to profit from the image, goodwill, reputation and publicity of an individual athlete or organisation typically in exchange for a financial remuneration. Nova Law’s sports lawyers have drafted numerous sponsorship agreements, taking into consideration the specific needs for the involved parties.
Governance and regulatory projects
Nova Law’s sports lawyers have considerable experience in establishing regulatory frameworks within national and international sports organisations, such as statutes, transfer regulations and disciplinary regulations. In this process due consideration must be taken to secure independence to panels and committees.
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