Sport
Vaishvik is probably the only firm in the world that can boast of having a current Olympian together with former professional athletes to assist clients with sports matters. Additionally, we have three members that are alumni of the prestigious ISDE (Madrid) holding Global Master in International Sports Law.
Lawrence Okoye
Lawrence Okoye is currently training for the 2024 Olympic Games to be held in Paris as part of the Great Britain athletics team. He was a medalist in the discus event at the European Championships (Munich) and Commonwealth Games (Birmingham) in 2022.
Lawrence has played rugby at a professional level for Wasps and London Irish clubs. He spent seven years playing American Football (NFL) for San Francisco 49ers, Arizona Cardinals, Dallas Cowboys, Chicago Bears and Miami Dolphins respectively.
He was an A* student at the renowned Whitgift School and offered a place to read law at Oxford University. Aged 19 years, he held the British record for discus and the following year was a finalist at the 2012 Olympic Games (London).
Andrea Clarke
During her tenure with the Football Association of Ireland, Andrea Clarke represented the FAI at arbitration hearings as well as defending CAS cases. She was also the Disciplinary Regulations Officer and covered all hearings. As the Anti-Doping Officer for the national football team, she liaised with the national sports authority to ensure compliance. Andrea supervised the Child Welfare and Safeguarding Department. She streamlined the FAI’s processes to ensure compliance with its rules, UEFA Regulations, FIFA Regulations, Irish and EU laws.
Andrea successfully facilitated 20 clubs entering into a Participation Agreement with the league to manage disputes between them. Following Dublin’s proposal for the 2020 European Championships, Andrea oversaw contracts relating to staging agreements, insurance, volunteers agreements and liaised with UEFA.
Andrea dealt with sponsorship agreements, EA Sports Commercial Agreements, license of commercial rights agreements, partnership agreements, side letters, variation agreements and IT agreements for the FAI. She managed the registration of Trademarks and resolved passing off breaches that arose. Any player image rights issues between club and national body were dealt with by Andrea together with the lease and licence agreements relating to football grounds.
Andrea is familiar with drafting bespoke contracts (to support HR) for high performance athletes and their coaches as well as for specific projects (summer schools and academies) and stakeholders.
Andrea is a Director of Badminton Ireland (National Governing Body) and sits with the Independent Licensing Committee of FAI. Andrea is also an expert in Gaelic football.
Andrea also runs The Performance Process’ (@NoPlanBGAA) which provides performance analysis and coaching solutions for Gaelic Games teams (hurling and camogie)
Rory Jenkins has successfully represented footballers in professional negligence claims brought against English Premier League (EPL) club medical teams for incorrect diagnosis of injuries.
He has acted for football clubs in administration - defending claims from creditors and matters relating to rule and validation orders. He also provides guidance on players employee benefit tax mitigation schemes and relevance to validity of employment contracts.
Rory’s commercial approach to contracts looks to secure the financial future well-being of athletes. He is highly experienced with creating trust arrangements for media rights together with the valuation and assignment of agency agreements. He also advises on interrelated tax issues.
Rory’s clients include agents representing EPL players – advising them on representation agreements and the legal issues surrounding young players ability to contract.
He recently negotiated a lucrative sponsorship agreement with a beverage corporate for the British and Irish Lions rugby club.
Rory Jenkins
Satinder Hunjan KC
Satinder Hunjan KC was shortlisted for Sports Silk of the Year. He has been involved with leading and novel sports cases for over two decades, including those involving footballers from the EPL.
A recent example is Ben Fryatt, where it was contended that he had been pressurised to play on with an injury. This raised important issues about the health and welfare of footballers playing at the highest levels and the enormous pressure faced by elite clubs.
Satinder has advised on professional negligence matters relating to legal representatives in managing a sports arbitration case, including the hearing.
He has been a strategic advisor to owners of the Indian Premier League (IPL) cricket franchise and European Champions League (ECL) winning clubs. Issues covered include contracts, funding, transfers, stadiums and restructuring of debt.
Naveen Agnihotri
Naveen Agnihotri is an England & Wales Cricket Board (ECB) Level 2 coach as well as an umpire and scorer with the Association of Cricket Officials (ACO). He is well versed with ‘Sport Integrity’ matters and has experience of anti-corruption tribunals and committee panels across a multitude of sports. Naveen was selected to represent the Bar of England & Wales at the Lawyers Cricket World Cup in Colombo.
Joshua Decker
Joshua Decker is a motor sport and basketball enthusiast. He has refereed various US High School athletic and swimming competitions under their respective rules.
Vaishvik can assist with the following amongst others:
Dispute Resolution
Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS / TAS)
FIFA
Swiss law and arbitrations
Diversity, Equity & Inclusion
Media & Broadcasting Rights
Agents
Events
E-Sports and Virtual Reality
Taxation
Jurisdictional Issues
Governance
World Anti-Doping Association (WADA)
Disciplinary Sanctions
US Professional Sports Leagues
Sports law in South America
Employment Law
European Club Association
Contact us for a confidential discussion
12th Floor, Al Sila Tower
ADGM Square
Maryah Island
Abu Dhabi
UAE
PO Box 764648
Registration No: 000008707