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Why lawyers are among football's big earners

A modern Subbuteo set doesn't just need accountants, it also needs lawyers.   Here are some of the recent key legal cases involving football clubs with the law firms involved in brackets:

  • Manchester City challenged the Premier League rules on sponsorship which were found to be unlawful (David Pannick KC who reportedly charges £5k an hour, two other KCs, three additional barristers and law firm Freshfields.   The Premier League's three KCs led by Sports Silk of the Year Adam Lewis KC and four more barristers instructed by Slaughter and May).
  • The European Court of Justice ruled that Fifa's transfer regulations were unlawful after a challenge by former French international Lassana Diarra.
  • A joint action by players' union Fifpro and European Leagues claiming that Fifa's decision to launch a revised version of the Club World Cup had put player health at risk and is in violation of EU law.
  • Leicester, Manchester City, Nottingham Forest and Everton have faced action for alleged breaches of Premier League rule breaches in the past two years, Leicester won the their case and Clifford Chance is representing City in its ongoing battle with the Premier League.   (Pinsent Masons acted for Everton, Squire Patton Bogs for Forest and Linklaters for the Premier League.  Nick De Marco KC of Blackstone Chambers represented Leicester to the delight of the club's fans).
  • A tribunal appointed by the FA found in December that Fifa's planned reform of regulations for agents was illegal.
  • In April Fifa settled a case brought by Relevent Sports, a promoter seeking to bring European league fixtures to the US.
  • The Premier League's legal bill last season rose from a typical budget of £8m to £45m.
With the arrival of private equity, sovereign wealth, hedge funds and billionaires in a globalising game the stakes have changed.   Club owners have a fiduciary responsibility to pursue their own interests through any means available.

Nick De Marco wrote on Linkedin: 'the growth of lawyers in football is not something those like me has caused, but is an inevitable result of the complex financial and ownership rules, competition and the money at stake.

 

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