Sports & Events Management Foreword

By Olaf Borutz

Welcome to this
month’s Law Update

The entire world has been watching the tremendous opportunities that continue to develop in the Middle East and North Africa, including the region’s outstanding ability to host world class sporting and entertainment talent and experiences.

On a global level, there have also been recent important changes and events within the sports and events industry, including the end of the transition period as part of the FIFA regulations governing player agents, as well as the FIFA Women’s World Cup having taken place in Australia and New Zealand.

Accordingly, this Law Update has sought to review and analyse some of these recent major updates by including articles in respect of the privatisation of sports clubs in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the ongoing development of sports in Qatar, a review of the key tax considerations arising from the use of image rights within the region and an overview of the continuing and exciting development of women’s sports opportunities (with a particular focus on Saudi Arabia).

Further, this Law Update includes articles on the importance of licensing and merchandising rights, the use of data for sporting organisations and the growing use of the metaverse in sports and events (plus more).

As such, we really hope that you enjoy this edition, and as the new Head of Sports and Events (having recently joined the firm after spending the last five years in Europe working on the UEFA Champions League in a senior legal capacity), I look forward to hopefully meeting many of you in person soon.

However, in the meantime, please feel free to contact me or any of the other authors of the articles if you do wish to discuss them further.

Our team remain on hand to assist you with any support and advice that you may require.