Safeguarding Football's Financial Integrity
Soccerex Europe 2019
The Studio | 6 September 2019 | 2:00 PM - 2:45 PM
Football is big business and, as the money on offer has increased, so too has the threat to the game’s financial integrity. The highest standards of professional governance need to be adhered to if the game is not to fall foul of corruption, criminality and mismanagement. While the game’s governing bodies have taken positive steps to safeguard football’s financial integrity, through the implementation of club licensing schemes, Financial Fair Play regulations and strategies against match fixing, the challenge is ongoing, and its importance growing, as activities such as sports betting become an ever larger part of the football business mix. At Soccerex Europe we will hear from governing bodies, legal experts and specialist independent organisations as they evaluate the different threats to football’s financial integrity and analyse what needs to be done to protect the credibility of the beautiful game.
Suggested for: Finance & Regulation, Social Responsibility
Speakers
After graduating in Law from the University of Lisbon, Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros has gone on to hold positions throughout the worlds of law, Portuguese politics and football. After being appointed Secretary General of the Portuguese Professional Football League in 2000, he then went on to become a member of several committees within both UEFA and FIFA, including the FIFA Task Force "For the Good of the Game," along with being one of the founding fathers and the former CEO of the Association of European Professional Football Leagues.
He currently holds the position of co-founder and CEO of the Sport Integrity Global Alliance (SIGA), the world's largest independent global coalition in the field of sports governance and integrity.
Rodrigo Arias Grillo has held multiple positions throughout the football industry and beyond. Starting in Costa Rica as a lawyer and working his way up to the Costa Rica Professional Football Players Association all whilst studying and gaining his PHD in Constitutional Law, Rodrigo then moved to Spain to join Sportia Law before heading to LaLiga.
Rodrigo was responsible for the Integrity Department of LaLiga for over 3 years before heading to Switzerland to join FIFA in June 2016. He held the position of Integrity Manager before becoming the Group Leader of Integrity in FIFA's Legal & Integrity Division in May 2018, the position he holds today.
Fernando Veiga Gomes is a Partner and has been at Abreu Advogados since 2009, working mainly on matters related to corporate mergers and acquisitions and sports law. He has extensive experience in sports law matters with focus on the incorporation and acquisition of sports companies.
He is the head of the sports law group of Abreu Advogados, a leading sports law practice in Portugal advising several football clubs, investors, players, athletes, sports agents and federations at national and international level.
Fernando Veiga Gomes is currently the President the Sports Law Commission of the UIA – International Association of Lawyers.
Joao Nogueira Da Rocha has been involved in the football industry since 2000 when he became a lawyer of the Players Professional Association, after graduating with a Degree in Law from the Portuguese Catholic University. He went onto become a member of the CAS (Court of Abritration for Sport, Lausanne, Switzerland) in 2003 before getting his Master Degree in Sports Law the following year.
Since then, he has also become a member of the Legal Committee of FIFPro, a position he has held since 2006.
Daniel provides his expert legal services to football clubs, agents, federations, players and football’s governing bodies. Daniel is active in the Higher Court of Sports Justice including CAS, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, as well as being the Vice President of the Special Committee on Legislation and Sports Law at the Brazilian Bar Association.
