Practice areas
Sports law
We work with sports federations, clubs, agencies and athletes. Sports law is a separate field because federation and international regulations apply alongside, and sometimes instead of, national law, so both the contract and the route of appeal have to be built around them.
- Athlete, coach and agency contracts at amateur and professional level
- Sponsorship, merchandising and name and likeness agreements
- The running of sports organisations: governance, statutes, federation membership
- Representation in international federation and arbitration proceedings
- Setting up the legal framework for sports agency activity
- Employment, procurement and commercial questions inside sports organisations
Describe the matter in a few sentences. We reply within one working day with what we need for the next step.
Representative matters
Advising a football federation on employment and public procurement questions, and on participation and supervisory committee work relating to commercial contracts.
Comprehensive legal advice to and representation of a Hungarian football club in international federation and arbitration proceedings.
Full legal representation of and advice to a sports agency company.
Representing a Hungarian-American owned swimming association and swimming school on organisational questions, and advising on commercial, employment and other contracts.
Drafting amateur and professional athlete, agency and employment contracts, and sponsorship and merchandising agreements, for Hungarian and foreign sports organisations, athletes and sports executives.
Questions clients ask us
Is a professional athlete's contract employment or a service agreement?
It can be either, but the choice is not free. The actual substance decides: the right to give instructions, the requirement to be available, and integration into the club's organisation. The wrong form creates employment and contribution exposure later, so the wording and the daily practice have to match, not just the title of the document.
Where can an international sports dispute be taken?
Usually to the federation's own appeal bodies first, because the regulations require it and that route has to be exhausted before a state court. From there the next step leads to the international court of arbitration for sport. The deadlines here are short and preclusive, so establishing the forum and the deadline is the first task.