Due to their long-standing practical experience (since 1985) in the field of sports law, our lawyers are able to offer our clients the services of a highly specialized team with multidisciplinary skills. Our expertise covers all levels of sports practice and the sports industry in general.

Our advice on all legal matters related to sport goes beyond mere advocacy. Our lawyers act as arbitrators at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, as arbitrators at the Chamber of Arbitration for Sport of the French National Olympic and Sports Committee, as members of committees of the Professional Football League and are also authors of booklets such as “Contentieux du Sport” (Sports Litigation), published in “Contentieux Dalloz“, and of professional articles, as well as organizers of conferences.

On a daily basis, we advise a large number of sports stakeholders (federations, professional clubs, athletes or leagues, trade unions) on the interpretation, application or revision of the lex sportiva (in particular sports legislation, statutes and administrative and sports regulations of the federations).

We regularly assist our clients in the organization and management of international or national sporting events, advising on all aspects of contracting with public and private stakeholders, the operation and financing of sports infrastructures and venues (user contracts, naming contracts (“nommage“), safety and security issues and urban planning and environmental issues, technical standards, etc.).

We support top athletes in their strategy aiming at protecting and enhancing personality values, which are genuine intangible assets. We support them in registering their surname as a trademark before national and international offices and appear on their behalf before national and international courts. We also assist our clients in combating ambush marketing, which consists of the unauthorized use of registered trademarks and/or signs whose use is reserved for certain persons by sports legislation (in particular olympic signs).

Our lawyers are familiar with all regulations on data use (GDPR, French data protection law, e-privacy, etc.) and support all sports stakeholders (clubs, associations, service and solution providers, etc.) as to:

• compliance with personal data protection regulations (GDPR audit, preparation of impact assessments and information/data protection policy statements, revision of contracts with subcontractors, etc.), in particular:
– building digital solutions between associations/clubs and members/licensees;
– setting up online sales or reservation systems for products/services (access to sports content, sale of derived products, etc.);
• the establishment of processes and procedures to respond in the event of a cyber incident or attack, whether intentional (crypto-ransomware, phishing, etc.) or not (data leakage or accidental data loss, etc.), which is particularly sensitive in the sports sector due to its media presence and the sensitivity of certain data held by clubs/associations, through the definition of all the steps to be followed (detection and diagnosis, communication, investigations and, if necessary, legal action);
• support in the event of a cyber incident/attack, in particular by drafting/reviewing guidance with language elements useful for the various recipients of communication (journalists, general public, employees, partners, authorities such as the French data protection authority (CNIL, Commission nationale de l’informatique et des libertés), etc.);
• conduct investigations to identify the perpetrator of the incident and determine his responsibility;
• conducting of all legal steps (civil and/or criminal) against the responsible person(s).

Our experience enables us in particular to draft and negotiate partnership agreements (sponsorship) and contracts between professional clubs and their players/trainers on the commercial exploitation of their image and surnames.

Sports court proceedings are characterized by a large number of specific mandatory preliminary proceedings. For many years, we have assisted our clients before national and international sports bodies as well as before the French National Olympic Committee and, in case of failure, before the administrative and civil courts. In this context we conduct civil, commercial or administrative litigation and national or international arbitration.

For more than 35 years, our firm has assisted associations, federations and individuals in their activities both in France and abroad, where our firm has contacts with renowned professionals.