On Wednesday, May 23, the Labor and Sports Congress 2018 took place at the University of Amsterdam - in cooperation with the Hugo Sinzheimer Institute. Many well-known lawyers and jurists attended and representatives from the international sports world from FIFA, ECA, KNVB, FBO and FIFPro, among others. BMDW Advocaten was involved in the content design of the congress, with the theme 'The legal position of the sportsman'.

Roberto Branco Martins (Lecturer in Labor and Sports & European Labor Law UvA, Partner BMDW Lawyers) did the introduction and extended a warm welcome to all invitees and speakers.

Then the floor was given to Prof Richard Parrish (Jean Monnet Chair of EU Sports Law, Director Centre for Sports Law Edge Hill University), who in his keynote analyzed the ISU Eligibility case of the European Commission. He analyzed what consequences this ruling may have for European sports law and sports federations' policies.

Then Guido Hahn (Minor Coordinator of Sport, Law and Society Erasmus School of Law), using a recent criminal conviction of an amateur Football player and the Draft Labor Market in Balance Bill, addressed national sports law and the position of athletes.

This was followed by a panel consisting of Matthew Graham (Legal & Player Affairs UniGlobal's World Players Association) and Chiel Warners (Former Olympian and -Chairman of NOC*NSF's Athletes' Commission), who discussed with moderator Hahn the present and future of organizations involved in collective representation of athletes.

After the break, the focus was specifically on Football, with Branco Martins discussing in detail the latest developments in intermediary regulation.

Then it was the turn of Frans de Weger (CAS Arbitrator and also Partner BMDW Advocaten), who in his presentation addressed the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, as amended as of June 1 last, as well as the larger changes expected to come at the end of this year.

As moderator, De Weger then chaired a panel with representatives of the Football "stakeholders," consisting of Matthijs Withagen (FIFA), Roy Vermeer (FIFPro), Daan de Jong (ECA) and Serge Rossmeisl (FBO), each of whom addressed the backgrounds to the discussed RSTP rule changes from their own experiences. They also addressed the (expectedly even more drastic) future changes to the transfer system in Football. This resulted in some great discussions that provided some clarity on the upcoming changes.

Finally, Dennis Koolaard (Ad Hoc Clerk CAS, Attorney at Law De Kempenaer) gave an engaging presentation on some of the CAS' landmark cases, including an analysis of the cases involving the Russian doping scandal leading up to last summer's Olympics in South Korea.

After the conclusion by Branco Martins, the sunny rooftop terrace - located next to the Mootcourt Hall of the new Roeterseiland complex - proved to be an ideal location to conclude the successful congress in style while enjoying closing drinks.

Below is a selection of photos from the afternoon in question.

For more information about the conference and presentations, please contact s.m.postma@uva.nl