Sports

• Client representation before FIFA, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and international sports federations: equestrian sports (FEI), athletics (IAAF), volleyball (FIVB), basketball (FIBA), tennis (ATP), judo (IJF) etc; and
• Expertise in contractual and disciplinary disputes involving doping, match fixing, fraud in sport, governance issues in federations, as well as the eligibility and selection of athletes in sports competitions.

• Active practice in various sports, mainly football, equestrian sports, volleyball, basketball, tennis, athletics, and motor racing;
• National and international transfers of athletes;
• Commercialization of economic and federative rights of athletes;
• Structuring investments in football;
• Drafting employment, sponsorship, and athlete image rights and assignments;
• Drafting sponsorship and brand licensing contracts;
• Drafting and revising sports federation by-laws;
• Negotiation of contracts for broadcasting sporting events;
• Drafting sponsorship contracts for clubs and tournaments, and sports-entity funding projects; and
• Advising on sports event tax incentive systems in Brazil and abroad (Sports Incentive Law).

Our Firm assists with the corporate structuring of foreign and domestic investments in athletes, clubs, events and other sports-related projects.

Our team includes sports labor law experts, who advise Brazilian and foreign athletes, as well as sports associations throughout the country. Our team has been acting at the forefront of  major sports-related labor lawsuits in recent years.

E-sports is already a reality, and a billion-dollar annual turnover market. Knowing the importance and continuous transformation of this area, our firm has a specialized team prepared to meet multiple market demands.

Bichara e Motta Advogados e-Sports practice specializes in the following services:

• Drafting contracts between clubs and athletes based on the Pelé Law, labor legislation, and market demands;
• Negotiating and drafting contracts for image assignment, use and exploitation, brand licensing, sponsorship, and seeking sports development;
• Reviewing of contracts proposed by publishers and streaming platforms; and
• Legal structuring of championships.

We know that when it comes to sports, issues can go far beyond the pitch. For this reason, our team is ready to use multidisciplinary concepts to assist athletes, clubs, investors, and other market players with the protection of intellectual property.

We are proficient in assisting our clients with their trademark protection before the Brazilian Patent and Trademark Office, in order for our clients to explore their activities in multiple areas of interest. 

Moreover, Bichara e Motta Advogados has expertise in drafting licensing and sponsorship contracts, as well as developing and protecting information products.

The firm has a specialized and multidisciplinary team, prepared to act in judicial litigation, before sports courts and in alternative dispute resolution bodies, defending our clientsinterests in sports arbitration and mediation.

Widely used worldwide and with exponential growth in Brazil, alternative dispute resolution mechanisms demand expertise and a proven know-how. Our firm is ready to provide our clients with services tailored for each specific situation. 

The Firm’s services include, but are not limited to:

• Contract review and assistance on arbitration clause enforcement, according to our clients’ needs and expectations;
• Pre-dispute assistance;
• Preparation of the procedural strategy and evidence for each case;
• Acting in ad hoc and institutional tribunals, following the regulations of the various existing institutions.
• Acting before international dispute resolution chambers for various sports modalities, and before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS/CAS); and
• Expertise with state Sports Justice Tribunals (TJD), Sports Court of Justice – Anti-Doping Division (TJD-AD), and the Higher Sports Courts of Justice (STJD and STJD-AD), in several sports modalities.

Many disputes arise from interpretation or inaccurate application of the numerous bylaws and regulations of sports federations. Bichara e Motta Advogados team is prepared to act in several legal scenarios, considering the absence of standard regulation texts, the peculiarity of each sport, the application of each country’s legislation, allied to the Firm’s vast experience in previous cases.

We help our clients to defend their interests by:

• Drafting and revising bylaws;
• Expertise in administrative proceedings;
• Assistance in general and electoral meetings; and
• Assistance in decision making.