UEFA Football Law Programme launched

In football's ever-changing environment, a full grasp of complex legal aspects has become an essential component in the work of specialists involved in this area of the game. UEFA is providing crucial assistance and guidance in this respect through an ambitious new project.

The UEFA Football Law Programme has been developed by UEFA in conjunction with international academic and legal experts. It is aimed at legal specialists who need to keep apace with the most recent developments in football law, and who must continually gain fresh understanding of – and new insights into – the issues involved.

The programme consists of four week-long sessions addressing key issues and topical aspects of football law, and is open to a wide range of participants from different backgrounds and organisations. They must either work in a UEFA member association's legal department, hold a legal position at a football club, players' union or league, else work for a law firm that deals with football-related cases.

Topics covered in the four sessions, which take place over a 12-month period, cover an introduction to football law, FIFA transfer regulations, other football rules and regulations, and the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and its procedures. Successful participants will receive a certificate of advanced study in football law (worth ten ECTS credits) from Kadir Has University (Istanbul, Turkey), in cooperation with the University of Padova (Italy), Rey Juan Carlos University (Madrid, Spain) and UEFA.

The sessions will be hosted by the different universities partnering UEFA, and guest speakers will be experts in various issues connected with the course topics.

Starting in Istanbul in October this year, participants will study topics such as EU law and sport, the Council of Europe and sport, football law and state law, and UEFA and FIFA structures.

Padova then stages the second session in January 2016, and will look at FIFA transfer regulations, contractual stability, international transfer of minors and training compensation and solidarity mechanisms.

The programme then moves to Madrid in April 2016, with football disciplinary procedures, UEFA's financial fair play system, anti-doping matters and match-fixing rules and regulations on the agenda.

Finally, the fourth session will take place at UEFA's House of European Football in Nyon, and will deal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport and its ordinary and appeal procedures, as well as landmark CAS cases.

UEFA General Secretary Gianni Infantino, a lawyer himself, views the programme with an experienced eye. "In this complex, fast-changing and uncertain world," he says, "it is essential that the UEFA member associations and other football stakeholders are aware of the legal stakes involved in the modern game and are fully equipped to handle them appropriately. Given the inherent complexity of legal matters and the constant developments in this field, it is also crucial to foster cooperation between all parties to better address upcoming challenges.

"The UEFA Football Law Programme sets out to enable more members of the football family to acquire new skills specific to sports law," Mr Infantino adds, "and, even more specifically, football law – equipping them to take on new challenges in this rapidly developing domain. By integrating football law into our large portfolio of educational initiatives, we hope to foster an ever more professional approach to the different legal issues surrounding football in Europe."

FLP programme directors Michele Bernasconi (CAS arbitrator) and Emilio Garcia (UEFA head of disciplinary and integrity) are advising participants that cooperation is a crucial element of the programme. "Given the complexity of the legal topics in football," they say, "it is important that all members of the football family cooperate and understand their respective positions to improve the current situation.

"What [participants] will mostly gain from the UEFA FLP is this stakeholder knowledge, as well as the tools and ideas [they] need to improve cooperation. By welcoming participants from diverse backgrounds and different organisations, this programme will be key in fostering such collaboration in [their] daily work."

The final word on this ambitious new programme goes to Sarah O'Shea, deputy CEO and legal director at the Football Association of Ireland (FAI). "As director of a legal department in a national association," she explains, "I have come to realise how important it is to have a clear and robust understanding of legal issues.

"However, more importantly, I have experienced the need to position the department and to understand the environment our legal experts are interacting with on a daily basis. This programme fully addresses this key challenge in our field."