A think tank specialised
in Football Law
The International Association of Football Lawyers is a forum for the exchange of information and experience between lawyers specialized in this field.
The Association aims to value and assert the activity and image of football lawyers.
Our Association is international
Sports is by definition universal, hence so should be the law that governs it.
The independence of lawyers and their professional ethics must serve football in its social dimension.
We value law as much as sport and we think that our ethics as independent lawyers can contribute to the development of football all the while enhancing the respect of fundamental rights.
AIAF MEMBERS WORLD MAP
Mission and Activities
AIAF intends to be a main referent with the public and private authorities which regulate football and to actively take part in the development of international and national football regulations.
The AIAF members are encouraged to participate in discussions on any specific subjects in football law through different task groups.
AIAF organizes an annual Congress focusing on a relevant theme in football law, which is held every time in a different country.
ITTI Master in Football Law in collaboration with AIAF
We are excited to announce the ITTI Master in Football Law, created in partnership with the ITTI Sports Institute.
Directed by our esteemed members Andrea Bozza and Daniel Cravo, this program is a premier gateway into the field of football law.
The course is taught by leading experts, including many AIAF members, and covers all essential aspects of football law.
Thanks to our partnership, candidates recommended by an AIAF member benefit from an exclusive discount.
Unlock your future in football law with the ITTI Master in Football Law.
Words of AIAF President
Juan de Dios Crespo Pérez has specialised in sports law since 1981, his practice in Valencia (Spain) deals mainly with international football cases, but also with other sports. He also lectures in sports law at some twenty universities around the world in four languages.
He has acted as counsel in cases that have changed the world of football, such as Webster and Matuzalem, among others, and has been appointed in more than 400 proceedings before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
He also is an arbitrator at the EHF Court of Arbitration (handball at European level), Sports Resolutions in the UK, ALADDE in Latin America, the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris and the Chamber of Commerce in Valencia.
“In 2012, after 20 years of professional practice in football law, Patricia Moyersoen, our long-time President and now ad honorem one, noticed that lawyers specialized in this field were very isolated, that each of them worked on their own corner and that they were therefore not considered by the authorities as experts who could usefully contribute to improve the international standards governing football. It was then when she thought about bringing these specialized lawyers together in an international association so that they could not only exchange and share their respective experiences, but also reflect together on the problems faced by our clients.
The objective of AIAF, our Association of International Football Lawyers, is therefore not only to create an international network of lawyers specialized in football law, but also to become and be recognized as one of the players in international football.
Nowadays, AIAF gathers more than 130 lawyers specialized in football law, spread over five continents and 35 countries.
We have organized eleven congresses since the association’s creation, during which we have worked on the main themes of international football law. The AIAF Congresses are not similar to other seminars and conferences on football law. Indeed, ours are organized in the form of highly interactive debates and workshops.
We invite the leaders of the highest international football institutions, as well as the various stakeholders, to come and discuss with the specialized lawyers who are best suited to explain in a precise manner the problems encountered by their clients. These debates are always fruitful and we draw from them recommendations that we address to the institutions concerned. AIAF Congresses are also an opportunity for lawyers who are not members of the association, as well as young lawyers or students, to come and meet the most specialized ones and discover their daily professional practice.
We have been through a long journey but a very fertile one, as we have became a partner, even non-official, with FIFA, launching fruitful face-to-face meetings that have helped both parties to understand not only the need of legal football but also has provided ideas that FIFA agreed to grab for the best of our sport and even changed regulations. That understanding between the world body and AIAF is one of the first steps that we want to replicate with other stakeholders.
Our aim is not to destroy the system but to give our legal contribution to help it to be on line with the law and with the changes that the today’s world (and the future) are demanding.
Thanks to our partnership with Football Legal, our congresses are based on very serious scientific documentation and our debates have an international resonance.
The very international nature of the AIAF and its Congresses also makes it possible to understand the difficulties faced by international football bodies because, in truth, it is very difficult to impose international standards when each country has built and developed its national football on the basis of its own legal culture and football history. Football regulations should be for a worldwide system but sometimes they have to confront legal issues that are not easy to deal with.
AIAF is here to serve and it is my honour to follow the path of my predecessor Patricia MOYERSOEN.”
Juan de Dios CRESPO PÉREZ
Lawyer – Valencia (Spain)
Who are the members of the AIAF?
AIAF gathers lawyers from all countries whose point of mutual interest is their professional practice in the field of football and who want to create and develop a professional network in order to exchange views and reflect on football law.
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Resources
As a member of the AIAF, you benefit from specific documentation on football law.
You have access to the AIAF’s own articles concerning the activities of the association as well as the recommendations published by the association as a result of the AIAF Congresses.
Thanks to the partnership with Football Legal, you also have a personal account on the website www.football-legal.com allowing you to have direct access to the exclusive contents of the PREMIUM offer.
Previous editions of the Congress
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