The mission of the Sports Law Centre at the University of Pretoria is to provide a centre of excellence for students, professionals and lecturers alike.  The Centre aims to achieve this by providing high quality services, research and products to the sporting world (sport federations and associations, the professional sports industry, organisations, professional athletes, etc.).

For this purpose the Sports Law Centre, the High Performance Centre (hpc) and the University of Pretoria have reached an agreement of cooperation related to sports law.

The institutions collaboratively aim to cooperate and coordinate their activities in order to develop and promote a better understanding of sports law and to promote its advancement and ethical practice on and off the field.

In 2006, the University of Pretoria's Sports Law Centre and the world renowned ASSER International Sports Law Centre, The Hague, Netherlands concluded an agreement of cooperation in international sports law.

Services

The Sports Law Centre provides advice and assistance across the full spectrum of sports law, including:

• negotiating and drafting of contracts;
• dispute resolution;
• negotiating and documenting sponsorship and endorsement agreements;
• evaluation and exploitation of commercial opportunities;
• representation agreements (agency);
• protection of intellectual property rights;
• participation contracts with sports federations and athletes;
• risk management and compliance;
• drafting and amending constitutions and internal rules;
• competition rules and technical matters;
• representation in any dispute/disciplinary proceedings;
• doping;
• risk management, liabilities, waivers and disclaimers;
• good corporate governance;
• employment issues.

Other services

The University of Pretoria's Sports Law Centre can provide legal opinions on most matters, conduct research for you on any area of law and we can provide in-house training or workshops on any of the above fields for your members or staff.

Our team

Co-Director:
Rian Cloete BLC LLB (UP) LLD (UNISA)
Rian is a law professor at the University of Pretoria, serves on the Executive Committee of the Sports Law Association of South Africa and is a member of the Advisory Board of the International Sports Law Journal. Rian advises a number of clients in the sports industry and has a particular interest in intellectual property and negotiating player contracts. He writes extensively in the fields of sports law, property law and professional conduct and ethics. Rian is the co-author and managing editor of the latest book entitled Introduction to Sports Law in South Africa. He is an admitted attorney of the High Court of SA and Director of the School for Legal Practice.

Brandon Foot LLB (UP)
Brandon is the legal advisor of Supersport International and an experienced attorney. He is the former President of the Northerns Cricket Union and Chairman of Titans Cricket (Pty) Ltd. He has extensive experience in sports administration, was involved in the 2003 Cricket World Cup and advises various high profile professional sportsmen. Brandon also teaches Sports Law at the University of Pretoria and writes a weekly sports law column in the Pretoria News daily newspaper.

For more information on the University of Pretoria's Sports Law Centre, contact:

Prof Rian Cloete

Mobile:  083 292 1644 / Phone:  012 420 3198 / E-mail: [email protected]

Picture source:  www.hybridlava.com