5 2 February 2007

News:

Scottish Premier League club, Glasgow Rangers, have warned their supporters that they will seek compensation for any misbehaviour that results in sanctions by a sports governing body.

UK Sport, which conducts doping tests on behalf of sports governing bodies, has dismissed plans for an independent UK regulator to test, investigate and prosecute doping offences, suggested in a Select Committee on Science and Technology report, Human Enhancement Technologies in Sport.

The Brazilian federal government has introduced a national lottery to save its domestic football clubs from bankruptcy.

Features:

A vote to replace insolvent London Broncos with a new company, Harlequins RL, highlighted problems with Super League governance, in that clubs sat in judgement over other clubs. Rod Findlay, the Rugby Football League's in-house lawyer, explains the changes put in place to remedy this conflict of interests, and how they restored the decision-making balance between the RFL and the engage Super League clubs.

As recently as 2003, professional athletes in Portugal were only required to pay taxation on 50 percent of their income. Portuguese government moves to increase taxation to 100 percent of income were resisted, however the Portuguese football association's threat of a player strike failed to halt the change. Alexandre M. Mestre and Joćo Costa Andrade, of PLMJ - Sociedade de Advogados, explain the arguments for and against increasing the tax, and why the door to further debate has not yet closed.

A recent study by Deloitte highlighted the extent to which Latin American football clubs rely on player sales for financial support. John Auton, an audit partner with Deloitte's Brazil office, highlights the balance between youth investment, involving clubs identifying talent at an early age to sell for profit, and nurturing and retaining that talent, which could enable Latin American clubs to increase their international success and standing.

In September 2006, the Brazilian government offered Brazilian football clubs a lifeline in the form of a lottery designed to settle debts owed to it by football clubs. Marcelo R. Mattos and Leticia R. Andrade of Veirano Advogados, and Mike Morgan of Hammonds, explain how the joint initiative works and examine its potential for success.

Last year, the Italian competition authority made a number of recommendations designed to make Italian football more competitive, including a return to collective selling of TV rights and placing limits on the transfer of players during the season. David Monterossi and Alessia Bellomo, of Studio Associato LCA, examine the Italian government's efforts to incorporate the recommendations into law, and discuss potential issues for clubs while the changes are implemented.

An argument between Wayne Rooney's agent Paul Stretford, his Proactive Agency and Rooney's former agent, Proform, highlighted a number of issues that occur when representation contracts involving minors are breached. Max Duthie and Luke Arbuthnot, of Bird & Bird, examine whether this test case gives agents the green light to approach minors with a view to inducing them to break representation contracts.