About

I have an expertise in International Sports Law and international arbitration and 23 years of experience in legal representation and advice before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), in Lausanne, Switzerland and FIFA’s Football Tribunal, in Zurich, Switzerland, where I deal with a number of different applications, ranging from doping in sport to players’ contracts and transfers, European competition law, human rights and other regulatory matters. I have previously acted as a football intermediary and registered lawyer with The FA.  I have advised and represented a number of high profile sport personalities. One of my most notable cases was the Greek Sprinters case, where I acted as Counsel for Mr Kenteris and Ms Thanou before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and successfully negotiated and settled a multi-million pound out-of-court settlement with the IAAF (now World Athletics).  In recent years, I advised the South-African track & field Federation on the Caster Semenya matter, Celtic FC on the FC Sion matter, I acted for the Chinese Taipei gold medalist Mu-yen Chu against the International Olympic Committee and for the heavyweight boxing champion Dillian Whyte.

I publish frequently and participate on TV and Radio interviews globally on several sports law issues and I am a regular contributor to Sky News and BBC News and other international media outlets. In November 2009, I was voted in the “Top 20 of the World’s Most Influential Sports Lawyers” by Sports Business International. In 2020 I was appointed as a Member in the Mentoring Team for the Pro Bono Legal Service of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games.

Specialist areas of interest

Sports Law, Anti-doping litigation, football law, advocacy, negotiation, dispute resolution.

Teaching

Sheffield Institute of Law and Justice

College of Social Sciences and Arts

Law

Courses taught:

- LLM International Sports Law in Practice

Modules taught:

- Anti-Doping Law
- Football Law
- Commercial Regulation & Contractual Obligations in Sport 
- Business Consultancy Project

Research

• Helena Kennedy Centre for International Justice

1. IMPACT Project, Community Project in Whistleblowing in Anti-Doping.
2. Research Project on the introduction of a system of judicial precedent before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

1. The Premier League v Manchester City: Financial Fair Play Regulations Revisited Procedure & Practice in Sporting Justice - https://shura.shu.ac.uk/32115/
2. Defending the rights of athletes before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS): revising procedural and substantive aspects of sports law litigation and practice - https://shura.shu.ac.uk/29689/
3. ‘Clean athlete status’ cannot be certified: Calling for caution, evidence and transparency in ‘alternative’ anti-doping systems - https://shura.shu.ac.uk/27698/
4. Football intermediaries and self-regulation: the need for greater transparency through disciplinary law, sanctioning and qualifying criteria - https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40318-019-00159-2
5. The Influence of Common Law Traditions on the Practice and Procedure Before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) - https://shura.shu.ac.uk/25987/
6. Legal Regulation of Doping in Sport and the Application of Criminal Law on Doping Infractions: Can A Coercive Response be Justified? - https://shura.shu.ac.uk/25989/

Publications

Other activities

Editor - International Sports Law Review, Sweet & Maxwell, London, UK
Editor - Sport & Law, Nomiki Vivliothiki, Athens, Greece

Media

A regular contributor to Sky News and BBC News with an international profile focusing on all anti-doping developments and general matters on sports law.