UBAtc’s Post

The NRL bid should be seen through 3 critical intersections: geopolitics, aid and foreign direct investment, the DFAT playbook right out of buying Digicel. It is geopolitics because Rugby, NRL in particular, is Aust soft power in the pacific. It’s a no brainer, increasing this soft power will be achieved through a PNG team and roll out to the rest of the pacific. Rugby, like Digicel, is part of the pacific fabric. It’s aid because like the acquisition of Digicel, DFAT is the main broker and financier. They will create a division to work closely with the NRL to project manage the implementation of the team and its pacific programme. And it’s FDI, because like Digicel purchase, a market leader was incentivised to buy Digicel. 600 million dollars is a massive incentive for the NRL. Those Australians like Leisel Jones OAM arguing against the bid, make it an election issue and throw labour out of government. That’s the source of this political economy machination which is committing your hard earned taxes to pay for the latest fairytale where hopefully Australia and PNG live happily ever after.

⛸️ The recent ruling on the International Skating Union (ISU) by the Court of Justice of the European Union’s (CJEU) has far-reaching implications for Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). ⚖️In the complaint and during their exchanges with the European Commission (and afterwards in the cross-appeal), Antoine Duval and Ben Van Rompuy challenged the mandatory CAS arbitration clause in particular. The CJEU decision affirmed their argument that the CAS is not a suitable venue to ensure an effective access to remedy for claimants in cases involving EU competition law. 👉🏻 The ISU judgement is only one of three landmark decisions made by the CJEU on 21 December, all of which have significant implications on the future of sports law. 🔍Watch the webinar organised together with LawInSport and Sport & EU where experts including Antoine, Professor Stephen Weatherill, Professor Miguel Poiares Maduro, Benoit Keane, Viktoria Lightbody (née Tsvetanova), Vanja Smokvina, and Rusa Agafonova analysed these landmark rulings and their implications. 🔗Read more and watch the webinar here: https://lnkd.in/e4kgn-Ar . 📷 | Court of Justice of the European Union #sportslaw #EUlaw #sport

🌍 Just wrapped up Day 2 of the 'FIFA Football Agents Regulations: FFAR-Fetched?' webinar hosted by Tony Sharkey, CEO of the Football Transfer Forum. Today, we delved into the Brazilian suspension of FFAR and insights from the FIFA Agent Working Group. Here's what our panelists - Roberto Carlos Branco Martins (General Counsel, EFAA (European Football Agents Association)), Dr. Gregor Reiter (Counsel, EFAA (European Football Agents Association); Member of FIFA Agent Working Group), Carol Couse (Partner, Mills & Reeve ), and Leonardo Maximo (Chief Commercial Officer, NetshoesMiners) - brought to the discussion: Brazil Situation Insights : -Lack of Brazilian involvement in FFAR consultation despite Brazil's prominence as a major exporter of football talent. -Challenges with language barriers (only 1% speak English), high exam costs, and location limitations impacting agent licensing. -Legal battles resulting in FFAR suspension in Brazil, leading to uncertainties in international deals. ⚽️ FIFA Agent Working Group Insights : -Formation post-FFAR implementation for global discussion on its application. -Focus on legal implications, especially concerning recent cases like the Dortmund case and English Court decisions. -FIFA's limited power without the cooperation of major football markets like England, due to the Enlgish court decision not reversable. The landscape of football regulation is evolving with various challenges and legal complexities. 🤝 Looking forward to further discussions in the upcoming working group meetings. 📈 #FootballRegulations #FIFA #AgentWorkingGroup #SportsLaw #FootballTransfers #BrazilFootball #GlobalSports

FFAR.online has found its first contributor and we start our global journey of collecting FFAR relevant documents with ... Italy. Bella Italia! In short, the situation of football agents in Italy: - The football agent, which is a category of sports agent, is a profession regulated by national law (see Legislative Decree no. 37/2021 in English below and in Italian here https://lnkd.in/dqEfHjw8). - Access to the profession is subject to an examination for sports agents and registration in the National Register of Sports Agents (‘the Register’) at the Italian National Olympic Committee (‘CONI’). - The examination is divided into two phases: firstly, an exam supervised by CONI (general part) and then an exam supervised by the national professional sports federation under which the sports agent wishes to work, which in the case of football is the FIGC - Federazione Italiana Giuoco Calcio. For example, CONI's first exam for 2024 will be held in Rome on 9 April 2024, with the deadline for applications being 27 March 2024. - The licence is permanent, personal and non-transferable. However, football agents’ companies are allowed, but also subject to registration in the Register. - The annual fee for the licence is EUR 250. - Players, coaches and clubs are prohibited from using persons who are not registered in the Register. - A representation contract signed with a person not registered in the Register is invalid. Regarding the FFAR and Italy: - Considering the above Italian model, the FIFA licence for football agents is essentially not valid in Italy and is nice to have, but the CONI/FIGC licence is a must in order to operate in Italy. - The FIFA Football Agents Regulations (FFAR) have not been challenged in any Italian court or arbitration. - The competent bodies in Italy responsible for the regulation of football agents (e.g. Ministry of Sport, Ministry of Labour, CONI) have not changed anything in their national framework because of the FFAR. Long story short, it seems that FFAR never arrived in Italy. We look forward to more FFAR national contributors.  #FFAR #sportsbusiness #footballregulation #sportslaw #footballlaw #football #footballbusiness #footballnews #footballagent #footballbusiness #fifa #coni #figc Alessandro M.

Compelling and thoughtful reflections on ✅the constitutionality of labour incidents’ categorisation and terms ✅ the need for improvement and professionalisation of the legal framework for football referee profession ✅the need for the equal labour conditions of female football players and corresponding legal regime at Liga BPI ✅ the specificities of football coaches’ labor regime ✅ the difficulties encountered in setting up new sport federations in Portugal discussed today during the first part of the Seminar “Sports Law vs Constitution of the Republic”, organized by Associação Portuguesa de Direito Desportivo in Guimaraes.

On the 21st of December 2023, the CJEU passed a decision on the conformity of UEFA's and URBSFA's Regulations regarding home-grown players with EU competition and free movement law. In the latest edition of Sport & Law, I comment in Greek on this decision, noting that the CJEU, following the consideration of several factors and indications that may justify the legality of the said Regulations, appeared to essentially avoid taking to a certain extend a clear position on the matter, allowing the local referring court to examine the case based on the evidence and arguements provided by the parties. #CJEU #UEFA #URBSFA #homegrownplayers #sportslaw #footballlaw

Seeing as FIFA has seemingly deleted/blocked my original comment and reply to this post 'by' Gianni Infantino, I think it is appropriate that I reiterate what I was saying. In essence, there must have been some foundation to it, otherwise, why would #FIFA try to block such 'engagement' in the age of "transparency, openness and accountability" that they wish to encourage? So trying to replicate what I said originally: It seems now that this 'mission' in regards to #FootballAgents is motivated right from the top at FIFA, & probably explains why so many at FIFA directly involved in the FFAR process, have been unwilling or possibly unable to listen to the many people (myself included), who have highlighted the many flaws and problems with the proposed #FFAR (FIFA Football Agent Regulations). Just one such flaw in FIFAs reasoning (of which there are many), which is replicated in these comments from Gianni Infantino; is the matter of the 'solidarity' & 'transfer compensation' mechanisms. It has been in FIFA's 'gift' to change these mechanisms for many years, YET it is FIFA who has failed to do so. Thus failing to address the issue of ensuring a fairer & more effective distribution of funds to those clubs that develop players. Such soundbites as 'money leaving football', & labelling agents akin to 'criminals', is an easy way to win the plaudits and praise of many who are passionate football enthusiasts or politicians ... yet understandably aren't fully informed on the mechanics of the football world, and in particular agents and intermediaries. The issue of solidarity and transfer compensation has arguably little to do with agents. Yes, football needs new agent regulations, and many of the agents agree ...... including those who are, from these comments, allegedly 'suing' FIFA. Yet the 'some' referred to here, I can guarantee have the support of the 'many'. FIFA has been using the same flawed arguments for the 'disputed' parts of FFAR for some 5 or 6 years now, many have tried to engage in an attempt for FIFA to 'see reason', but to no avail. And thus here are the same flawed claims and goals regurgitated, this time by the FIFA President. What is it they say about "doing the same thing again and again, but expecting different results" - first sign of insanity? Well, similar could be said of making the same flawed arguments, and expecting a different response or eventually expecting it to be acceptable. Yet this 'echo-chamber' approach is also reflected in FIFAs alleged 'consultation' process over the #FFAR, which has seemingly turned out to be more one of FIFA 'possibly' listening (at a stretch), but not necessarily hearing. The final point to make is that it is not just the agents and other participants who have ruled the FFAR unworkable (if not illegal), but some of those legal minds to whom Gianni Infantino refers. The plus point is that this event gives me something else to add on this topic on a future episode of The Agents Angle 😉

Money spent on #intermediaries is not leaving football, instead is being reinvested in players through the agencies that while young players are not generating any fees spend money on them. Considering the limitations imposed by English legislation to bring players from abroad, most of those players are over 23 years old and therefore do not trigger training compensation. If a player arrives as a free agent, also does not trigger solidarity mechanism...but still an agent has to be paid. It is simple if #FIFA wants to grant more money to training clubs it only has to increase the % of solidarity mechanism, increase the payment for training compensation and not limit it to be paid until the player is 23... many countries have legislation that limits the amount of money to be paid to agents and intermediaries in any industries.

Appears restructuring of clubs and structural changes in league are required in the English Premiership to safeguard its future as 7/10 clubs are currently balance sheet insolvent https://lnkd.in/erQC3GtN

Brisbane Broncos overtake the Melbourne Storm to be the most widely supported NRL club in 2024 with 1.3 million supporters The latest data from Roy Morgan shows the total #NRL supporter base has grown strongly from a year ago to over 7.4 million Australians (33.1%), up 2.4% from a year ago, who now support an NRL team. Looking over a longer time-period the increase is even more impressive, up by over 2.1 million (+39.7%) compared to four years ago in 2020. For the first time since 2020 it is the Brisbane Broncos who are now the most widely supported #NRL club in 2024 with 1,302,000 supporters, a stunning increase of 152,000 (+13.2%) on a year ago. This boost for the Broncos comes after the club played off in last year’s NRL Grand Final and had their most successful home and away season for over two decades – however, the club failed to repeat their success this year. Read more: https://lnkd.in/gpTniuh8