Third Party Ownership Of Football Players

The vast majority of sports have become a billion-dollar businesses. This is reflected in various professional sectors (legal, financial, marketing, media, etc.). Sometimes an outside observer may think that the greatest challenges for those in charge are restricted to the playing field and improving the teams. In fact, the reality of the industry has shown that the greatest challenges—and secrecy—take place far from the fields and sport court. This book discusses one of the most powerful tools used by football clubs to face the increasing financial demands. The author is a lawyer and has participated in hundreds of negotiations worldwide involving economic rights.

This thesis seeks to access the phenomenon of third party ownership (TPO) of the economic rights of professional football players. It begins with the structure of association football and proceeds to analyse the particularities of the international transfer market. Accordingly, a definition for TPO is delivered and the legitimacy and legality of this practice discussed in detail. An extensive classification of the most commonly used TPO models, enriched with real-life transfer cases, illustrates the practical relevance and casts light upon the mechanics of this opaque market. Among other findings, this paper shows that: a) TPO-backed transfers often involve professional LATAM players entering the Europe through Iberian clubs; b) Many TPO models are often used in combination, as some third parties tend to remain invested in players after a first transfer; and finally, c) the recently imposed ban on TPO by FIFA will most probably outlaw many of the models presented here.

The objective of this paper is to analyse the phenomenon of Third Party Ownership in the field of professional football, by starting with an analysis of existing literature on this topic, focusing attention on its characteristics, on its possible regulations and on the effects that it may have on the financial fair play regulations. With a qualitative approach, having investigated into the strong and weak points of the Third Party Ownership, the contribution ends by making a proposal aimed at resolving problem related to the nature of this procedure, as well as limiting the negative impact on norms in this field. The main conclusion is that the phenomenon of Third Party Ownership can be introduced into the future football business model that includes an adequate discipline in its operation by federations and international leagues. The latter are in charge of identifying profitable solutions for growth of the field, in observance of transparency and integrity of sports competitions with regards to ethical and moral principles doubted by the diffusion of this phenomenon.

Sport is a global phenomenon engaging billions of people and generating annual revenues of more than US$ 145 billion. Problems in the governance of sports organisations, fixing of matches and staging of major sporting events have spurred action on many fronts. Yet attempts to stop corruption in sport are still at an early stage. The Global Corruption Report (GCR) on sport is the most comprehensive analysis of sports corruption to date. It consists of more than 60 contributions from leading experts in the fields of corruption and sport, from sports organisations, governments, multilateral institutions, sponsors, athletes, supporters, academia and the wider anti-corruption movement. This GCR provides essential analysis for understanding the corruption risks in sport, focusing on sports governance, the business of sport, planning of major events, and match-fixing. It highlights the significant work that has already been done and presents new approaches to strengthening integrity in sport. In addition to measuring transparency and accountability, the GCR gives priority to participation, from sponsors to athletes to supporters an essential to restoring trust in sport.

Football is the biggest game in the world and the richest. This has contributed to the growth of legal issues and disputes in football and to an increasingly specialised legal services market in football. Since 2002, approximately half of all sports disputes before the Court of Arbitration in Sport (CAS) have been in football. Football and the Law provided the first comprehensive review of the law relating to all aspects of football in the world, including all the main regulatory and commercial aspects of the sport. With contributions from 67 of the leading experts in the field, it is a valuable resource to lawyers and others active in the football industry, as well as a vital source of material to students, legal practitioners and others who wish to learn more about the area. The work includes reference to the key legal principles, cases and regulatory materials relevant to football. The key developments for the 2nd Edition include: - Refiguration of European football/ ESL breakaway / new international structures - Independent regulation of football - Impact of Brexit Safeguarding – child abuse in football - Growth of racism and regulatory responses - FIFA banning 'bridge loans' (relevant to third party ownership) - FIFA's new plans to regulates agents and cap fees - Emergence of salary caps in football and legal challenges to them - Various high profile Financial Fair Play cases Class action in football re head injuries - Challenges to Owners and Directors test – calls for independent regulator - New chapter covering developments in CAS cases This title is included in Bloomsbury Professional's Sports Law online service.

Derived from the renowned multi-volume International Encyclopaedia of Laws, this practical analysis of sports law in the European Union deals with the regulation of sports activity by both public authorities and private sports organizations. The growing internationalization of sports inevitably increases the weight of global regulation, yet each country maintains its own distinct regime of sports law and its own national and local sports organizations. Sports law at a national or organizational level thus gains a growing relevance in comparative law. The book describes and discusses both state-created rules and autonomous self-regulation regarding the variety of economic, social, commercial, cultural, and political aspects of sports activities. Self- regulation manifests itself in the form of by-laws, and encompasses organizational provisions, disciplinary rules, and rules of play. However, the trend towards more professionalism in sports and the growing economic, social and cultural relevance of sports have prompted an increasing reliance on legal rules adopted by public authorities. This form of regulation appears in a variety of legal areas, including criminal law, labour law, commercial law, tax law, competition law, and tort law, and may vary following a particular type or sector of sport. It is in this dual and overlapping context that such much-publicized aspects as doping, sponsoring and media, and responsibility for injuries are legally measured. This monograph fills a gap in the legal literature by giving academics, practitioners, sports organizations, and policy makers access to sports law at this specific level. Lawyers representing parties with interests in the European Union will welcome this very useful guide, and academics and researchers will appreciate its value in the study of comparative sports law.

Sport: Law and Practice, Fourth Edition is the leading legal title covering sports law and practice in the UK, and at the Court of Arbitration for Sport. It serves both as a comprehensive statement of applicable law and precedent, and as a very practical guide to circumnavigating a complex sector. The new edition retains and updates all of the key chapters from previous editions, including the extended sections on challenges to the actions of sports governing bodies, and on anti-doping regulation and enforcement (with an introduction to the new 2021 World Anti-Doping Code). There are important updates to the chapters on Regulating Financial Fair Play, Misconduct, Safeguarding in Sport, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, and Media Rights and Sport. The Fourth Edition also adds brand new chapters dealing with: -Effective sports regulation (including the first ever comprehensive discussions of the 'general principles of law' applied by CAS panels in determining challenges to sports regulations, as well as of the principles of interpretation of sports regulations). -Best practice in sports governance (describing developments such as the strengthening of the competence and independence of boards and the emergence of independent integrity units). -Data protection law and sport (including discussion of the provisions of the Data Protection Act 2018 that facilitate the sharing of personal data by sports bodies for integrity-related purposes). -Exploiting commercially valuable sports data (explaining how sports rights-holders can fashion commercial agreements to meet the demand for sports data from the betting industry and others). -ESports (the first comprehensive treatment of the legal and practical principles underlying the regulation and commercial exploitation of the increasingly important ESports sector). Readers will also benefit from practice tips, precedent clauses, detailed explanations of key practical issues, and step-by-step analysis. This is an essential title for all sports law practitioners (solicitors and barristers, common law and civil lawyers), sports governing bodies, event organisers, clubs, participants, sports agencies and commercial partners, arbitrators, universities, and students.

In this volume, ownership is defined as the simple fact of being able to describe something as 'mine' or 'yours', and property is distinguished as the discursive field which allows the articulation of attendant rights, relationships, and obligations. Property is often articulated through legalism as a way of thinking that appeals to rules and to generalizing concepts as a way of understanding, responding to, and managing the world around one. An Aristotelian perspective suggests that ownership is the natural state of things and a prerequisite of a true sense of self. An alternative perspective from legal theory puts law at the heart of the origins of property. However, both these points of view are problematic in a wider context, the latter because it rests heavily on Roman law. Anthropological and historical studies enable us to interrogate these assumptions. The articles here, ranging from Roman provinces to modern-day piracy in Somalia, address questions such as: How are legal property regimes intertwined with economic, moral-ethical, and political prerogatives? How far do the assumptions of the western philosophical tradition explain property and ownership in other societies? Is the 'bundle of rights' a useful way to think about property? How does legalism negotiate property relationships and interests between communities and individuals? How does the legalism of property respond to the temporalities and materialities of the objects owned? How are property regimes managed by states, and what kinds of conflicts are thus generated? Property and ownership cannot be reduced to natural rights, nor do they straightforwardly reflect power relations: the rules through which property is articulated tend to be conceptually subtle. As the fourth volume in the Legalism series, this collection draws on common themes that run throughout the first three volumes: Legalism: Anthropology and History, Legalism: Community and Justice, and Legalism: Rules and Categories consolidating them in a framework that suggests a new approach to legal concepts.

The global success of football icons like Samuel Eto’o, Didier Drogba and Mohamed Salah has fuelled the migratory projects of countless young men across the African continent who dream of following – literally and figuratively – in their footsteps. Drawing on over a decade of ethnographic research, African football migration captures and chronicles the aspirations, experiences and trajectories of those pursuing this highly prized form of transnational migration. In doing so, the book uncovers and traces the myriad actors, networks and institutions that affect the ability of young people across the continent to realise social mobility through football’s global production network. The book sheds critical light on the barriers to social mobility erected by neoliberal capitalism, and how these are negotiated by aspiring African footballers. It also generates original interdisciplinary perspectives on the complex interplay between structural forces and human agency, as young players navigate an industry rife with commercial speculation. While a select few reach the elite levels of the game and build a successful career overseas, the book vividly illustrates how for the vast majority, ‘trying their luck’ through football results in involuntary immobility in post-colonial Africa. These findings are complemented by rare empirical insights from transnational African migrants at the margins of the global football industry and those navigating precarious retirement from careers as players. African football migration offers essential coverage of why and how African youth and young men have become actors in the global football industry, revealing the complex implications of transnational mobility, both imagined and enacted.

Dictionary of Sport Psychology: Sport, Exercise, and Performing Arts is a comprehensive reference with hundreds of concise entries across sports, martial arts, exercise and fitness, performing arts and cultural sport psychology. This dictionary uses a global approach to cover philosophical and cultural backgrounds, theory, methodology, education and training and fields of application. Each entry includes phenomenon, subject description and definition, related theory and research, practice and application across sports and related performance domains. An authoritative, balanced and accessible presentation of the state-of-the-art in key subject areas, this dictionary is a must-have reference for anyone studying or practicing sport psychology. Provides a diverse cultural perspective to ensure the broadest coverage of internationalization Covers a broad scope of terms and concepts Includes extended performance domains, such as music, dance, theater arts and the circus Utilizes an alphabetical approach so entries are easily found and quickly referenced Contains entries written by leading researchers and scholars across the globe