Legal expertise exchanged at Madrid workshop

The need to exchange legal expertise among UEFA's member national associations and other stakeholders in European football was highlighted at the latest in a series of legal workshops held in Madrid under the auspices of UEFA's Knowledge & Information Sharing Scenario (KISS).

Forty-seven of the 53 UEFA member associations came to Spain for the workshop, which demonstrated the crucial importance of regulation within football. A wealth of issues require regulatory foundations to enable football and other sports to function efficiently.

UEFA experts gave presentations on areas ranging from breaches of employment contract by players, through the legal procedures for drafting statutes, to the tender and bidding processes for the staging of major football events. The information provided offers the associations essential help in their own environments.

Combating match-fixing and corruption is a key priority for European football's governing body, and discussions centred on association responses to the issue. The Italian Football Federation (FIGC) delivered a presentation on Italy's state legislation, disciplinary regulations and investigations conducted in previous years.

The second day of the workshop saw a presentation by the English Football Association (FA) on the infringement and safeguarding of intellectual property rights – the rights related to productions of original intellectual or creative activity.

Also on the agenda were sporting developments within the European Union (EU) – such as, among other things, the European Parliament's recent backing of UEFA's policies on financial fair play, sport's specificity, and the legitimacy of sports arbitration courts to solve disputes.