The Team
Maisa Alsaidi
Managing Director
Maisa is the founder and Managing Partner of Equine Legal Consultancy, the first Middle East firm specialised in providing legal services to equestrians, professionals and businesses in the equine industry. Maisa has worked on a major appeal before the Federation of Equestrian International Tribunal representing a large number of national and international horse show jumping athletes in addition to the representation of more than 70 equestrians in the UAE in a message to the FEI president on one of the most challenging equestrian cases that have affected equestrians and businesses in the UAE.
Maisa has an in-depth corporate experience representing various clients in the region in restructuring their businesses and in mergers and acquisitions. Lately Maisa helped with the joint venture between her client AquaChemie DMCC and Kurita Europe GmbH to form a new entity to serve the specialty chemical market in the GCC region pegged at US$350 million.
Maisa has also founded and managed iRights to work on the formation of the first music rights association in the Middle East. iRights provides consultancy and legal advice to companies and individuals in the media sector. iRights represents all music right holders (worldwide) who have their music played or performed publicly in the UAE.
Prior to the formation of iRights, Maisa worked as a the General Counsel of Alif Alif Media Group. Alif Alif Media Group is a Saudi media group that operates TV, radio, production house and print media. The group is owned by His Royal Highness Prince Khalid Al Faisal and, based on his Royal Highness vision, the group focuses on Saudi affairs, heritage and modern development. In addition to her main role as a General Counsel, Maisa was a member of the management team and worked closely with other business units.
Before joining Alif Alif Media Group, Maisa worked as a the Director of Legal Affairs at Arab Media Group (AMG) and was a member of the steering committee. During her employment with AMG, she had advised other departments and group entities on all legal aspects, overseen corporate and media related matters and worked on several transactions.
Maisa had worked as an in-house counsel at the MBC Group, one of the largest media companies in the Middle East. She had also worked as a legal consultant at Afridi & Angell, one of the leading law firms in the UAE.
EXPERIENCE
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Advising on Sports related matters including dispute resolution, mediation and disciplinary related issues.
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Representing athletes before local and international federations and sports governing bodies.
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Advising national sports federations on regulatory related matters.
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Negotiating Sport related agreements such as events organization, sponsorship, athletes and team management, venue lease, agency, franchise and broadcast/streaming rights.
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Drafting, advising and negotiating all kinds of media related deals such as programm acquisitions, production, commissioning, co-production, format licensing, merchandising and new media agreements
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Preparing and negotiating music related deals (e.g. music acquisition, buy out of all rights, artist management agreement, service agreements, etc.)
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Providing advise and consultancy on commercial deals such as sale and purchase agreements, franchise agreements and barter agreements.
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Drafting and advising on IT agreements (e.g. service level agreements, software licensing agreements and hardware and software purchase agreements).
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Managing IP related work for iRights' clients such as trademarks, patents, trade secret and copyrights
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Providing consultancy on corporate legal matters including joint ventures, shareholders agreements, acquisitions and corporate restructuring.
EDUCATION
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LLB in Law, University of Jordan
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Member of the Jordanian Bar Association
LANGUAGES
Arabic, English and French.
Maisa Alsaidi
Managing Director
Maisa is the founder and Managing Partner of Equine Legal Consultancy, the first Middle East firm specialised in providing legal services to equestrians, professionals and businesses in the equine industry. Maisa has worked on a major appeal before the Federation of Equestrian International Tribunal representing a large number of national and international horse show jumping athletes in addition to the representation of more than 70 equestrians in the UAE in a message to the FEI president on one of the most challenging equestrian cases that have affected equestrians and businesses in the UAE.
Maisa has an in-depth corporate experience representing various clients in the region in restructuring their businesses and in mergers and acquisitions. Lately Maisa helped with the joint venture between her client AquaChemie DMCC and Kurita Europe GmbH to form a new entity to serve the specialty chemical market in the GCC region pegged at US$350 million.
Maisa has also founded and managed iRights to work on the formation of the first music rights association in the Middle East. iRights provides consultancy and legal advice to companies and individuals in the media sector. iRights represents all music right holders (worldwide) who have their music played or performed publicly in the UAE.
Prior to the formation of iRights, Maisa worked as a the General Counsel of Alif Alif Media Group. Alif Alif Media Group is a Saudi media group that operates TV, radio, production house and print media. The group is owned by His Royal Highness Prince Khalid Al Faisal and, based on his Royal Highness vision, the group focuses on Saudi affairs, heritage and modern development. In addition to her main role as a General Counsel, Maisa was a member of the management team and worked closely with other business units.
Before joining Alif Alif Media Group, Maisa worked as a the Director of Legal Affairs at Arab Media Group (AMG) and was a member of the steering committee. During her employment with AMG, she had advised other departments and group entities on all legal aspects, overseen corporate and media related matters and worked on several transactions.
Maisa had worked as an in-house counsel at the MBC Group, one of the largest media companies in the Middle East. She had also worked as a legal consultant at Afridi & Angell, one of the leading law firms in the UAE.
EXPERIENCE
-
Advising on Sports related matters including dispute resolution, mediation and disciplinary related issues.
-
Representing athletes before local and international federations and sports governing bodies.
-
Advising national sports federations on regulatory related matters.
-
Negotiating Sport related agreements such as events organization, sponsorship, athletes and team management, venue lease, agency, franchise and broadcast/streaming rights.
-
Drafting, advising and negotiating all kinds of media related deals such as programm acquisitions, production, commissioning, co-production, format licensing, merchandising and new media agreements
-
Preparing and negotiating music related deals (e.g. music acquisition, buy out of all rights, artist management agreement, service agreements, etc.)
-
Providing advise and consultancy on commercial deals such as sale and purchase agreements, franchise agreements and barter agreements.
-
Drafting and advising on IT agreements (e.g. service level agreements, software licensing agreements and hardware and software purchase agreements).
-
Managing IP related work for iRights' clients such as trademarks, patents, trade secret and copyrights
-
Providing consultancy on corporate legal matters including joint ventures, shareholders agreements, acquisitions and corporate restructuring.
EDUCATION
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LLB in Law, University of Jordan
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Member of the Jordanian Bar Association
LANGUAGES
Arabic, English and French.
Maisa Alsaidi
Managing Director
Maisa is the founder and Managing Partner of Equine Legal Consultancy, the first Middle East firm specialised in providing legal services to equestrians, professionals and businesses in the equine industry. Maisa has worked on a major appeal before the Federation of Equestrian International Tribunal representing a large number of national and international horse show jumping athletes in addition to the representation of more than 70 equestrians in the UAE in a message to the FEI president on one of the most challenging equestrian cases that have affected equestrians and businesses in the UAE.
Maisa has an in-depth corporate experience representing various clients in the region in restructuring their businesses and in mergers and acquisitions. Lately Maisa helped with the joint venture between her client AquaChemie DMCC and Kurita Europe GmbH to form a new entity to serve the specialty chemical market in the GCC region pegged at US$350 million.
Maisa has also founded and managed iRights to work on the formation of the first music rights association in the Middle East. iRights provides consultancy and legal advice to companies and individuals in the media sector. iRights represents all music right holders (worldwide) who have their music played or performed publicly in the UAE.
Prior to the formation of iRights, Maisa worked as a the General Counsel of Alif Alif Media Group. Alif Alif Media Group is a Saudi media group that operates TV, radio, production house and print media. The group is owned by His Royal Highness Prince Khalid Al Faisal and, based on his Royal Highness vision, the group focuses on Saudi affairs, heritage and modern development. In addition to her main role as a General Counsel, Maisa was a member of the management team and worked closely with other business units.
Before joining Alif Alif Media Group, Maisa worked as a the Director of Legal Affairs at Arab Media Group (AMG) and was a member of the steering committee. During her employment with AMG, she had advised other departments and group entities on all legal aspects, overseen corporate and media related matters and worked on several transactions.
Maisa had worked as an in-house counsel at the MBC Group, one of the largest media companies in the Middle East. She had also worked as a legal consultant at Afridi & Angell, one of the leading law firms in the UAE.
EXPERIENCE
-
Advising on Sports related matters including dispute resolution, mediation and disciplinary related issues.
-
Representing athletes before local and international federations and sports governing bodies.
-
Advising national sports federations on regulatory related matters.
-
Negotiating Sport related agreements such as events organization, sponsorship, athletes and team management, venue lease, agency, franchise and broadcast/streaming rights.
-
Drafting, advising and negotiating all kinds of media related deals such as programm acquisitions, production, commissioning, co-production, format licensing, merchandising and new media agreements
-
Preparing and negotiating music related deals (e.g. music acquisition, buy out of all rights, artist management agreement, service agreements, etc.)
-
Providing advise and consultancy on commercial deals such as sale and purchase agreements, franchise agreements and barter agreements.
-
Drafting and advising on IT agreements (e.g. service level agreements, software licensing agreements and hardware and software purchase agreements).
-
Managing IP related work for iRights' clients such as trademarks, patents, trade secret and copyrights
-
Providing consultancy on corporate legal matters including joint ventures, shareholders agreements, acquisitions and corporate restructuring.
EDUCATION
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LLB in Law, University of Jordan
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Member of the Jordanian Bar Association
LANGUAGES
Arabic, English and French.
Angelos Zavolakis
Senior Legal Consultant
Angelos heads the Sports Law department of the Firm. His practice focuses on International Sports Law and Dispute Resolution in Sports. Angelos’ experience includes working as in-house legal counsel handling a variety of international sport law matters and related commercial law aspects.
He has gained experience with reputable international sports law firms across Europe. Angelos also acts as ad hoc clerk in arbitration proceedings before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Angelos has appeared as co-counsel before an international arbitral tribunal. He has also contributed to the successful application of an International Sports Federation for full membership admission to the Global Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF).
EXPERIENCE
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Consultation on sport-related dispute resolution and arbitration matters (drafting relevant pleadings, letters of notice, communications).
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Legal consultation to Players, Clubs, Agents, Sports Federations, and Third-Parties on sport-related regulatory and compliance matters.
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Sport-specific contracting (including employment contracts, transfer agreements, representation agreements, mandates, settlement agreements, termination agreements, and agency contracts).
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Drafting and negotiating general commercial contracts of various types (including service agreements, MoUs, NDAs, PoAs, and event-licensing agreements).
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Corporate commercial matters of varied nature.
EDUCATION & MEMBERSHIPS
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Attorney at law admitted in the Athens Bar Association, Athens, Greece.
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Member of the Athens Bar Association, Athens, Greece.
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Masters in International Sports Law, Instituto Superior de Derecho y Economía (ISDE), Madrid, Spain.
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LL.B. in Law, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Faculty of Law, Thessaloniki, Greece.
LANGUAGES
Greek, English and French (intermediate).
Sandra Rebeiz
Senior Legal Consultant
Sandra heads the corporate practice of the firm. She has over 13 years of experience practicing in Europe and the Middle East. Prior to joining the firm, Sandra has worked with the United Nations, one of the main leading global law firms in its Paris office and leading law firms in Beirut and Dubai (in association with a UK law firm).
Sandra's practice principally involves corporate, commercial contracts and mergers and acquisitions. She has represented clients in major mergers in the region. Sandra has significant experience in drafting and negotiating share purchase agreements, shareholders’ agreements, joint venture agreements, escrow agreements, services agreements, distribution agreements, franchise agreements, commercial agency agreements, consultancy agreements, employment agreements, memoranda of understanding, private information memoranda and other commercial contracts. She has conducted due diligences and incorporated different types of companies. She assists companies in the different stages of their life cycle from incorporation, through growth, to exit; she acts across multiple sectors and industries.
EXPERIENCE
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Acted as the Lead Counsel in the sale of assets and liabilities of a bank to another for the amount of US $580 million: conducted the due diligence, negotiated and drafted all transaction documents and coordinated with the audit firms/liaised with US authorities and the Central Bank of Lebanon.
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Advised a Kuwaiti entity on the acquisition of a Lebanese Islamic bank for the amount of US $60 million.
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Advised a company owned by a globally known couturier on the establishment of a joint venture for the purpose of operating mono-brand shops in the United Arab Emirates.
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Advised on the establishment of a joint venture with a German company and a Jordan company for the purposes of manufacturing, distributing and marketing detergent products in the Levant countries i.e., Iraq, Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
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Worked on debt financing and equity offering made by a company to establish a business venture with a prominent group in Kuwait to distribute a brand of cars in the United Kingdom.
EDUCATION & MEMBERSHIPS
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Master’s degree in business law, university Pantheon Assas Paris II
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Postgraduate degree in business law and arbitration.
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Passed the Paris Bar.
LANGUAGES
Arabic, English and French.
Nicole Jeanine Petras
Legal & Communications Consultant
Nicole specializes in International Sport Law. In addition to her in-depth legal experience, Nicole advises on various other practical aspects related to sports such as players’ promotions and events management.
Nicole has held various positions at FIFA including Legal Counsel at Player Status Committee (Legal Integrity), Player Promotions and Events Management known as FIFA Legends Programme), Communications and Marketing Officer at Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy (FIFA World Cup 2022 Qatar, International Ambassadors (VIP Relations). These roles demanded high level meetings with internationally known footballers and also football legends. During that time, FIFA held the World Cup in Russia, the Womens World Cup in France, where Nicole played an integral role in orchestrating many of the top level events, media and promotions by bringing world most prominent male and female Football Legends back to the stage and to the game of football.
Nicole has also worked as a Project Manager at Women in Sports Law (WISLAW), Switzerland and managed a project by Argentina for the Homeless World Cup, Buenos Aires in collaboration with Argentinian Football Association (AFA).
EXPERIENCE
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Handling all aspects of Dispute Resolution, Contract Law, Sport Law, transfer of players, labour law, handling disputes and other legal issues before FIFA and its judicial bodies
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Sports Mediation
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Representation of current and former athletes and providing legal advice and consultancy to athletes, clubs, federations and agents, regarding employment, disciplinary, ethics and other matters
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Drafting, negotiating and interpreting event related agreements, including hosting agreements, service provider agreements and competition guidelines
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Providing general legal services to support sporting events and enhance their evolution towards more operational control
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Event planning, recruiting talent for VIP sport events and negotiating terms and conditions for their participation.
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Advising on Sports Politics- Consultancy and analysis of current sports framework setting
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Setting up Ambassador/Athlete Programmes for tournaments and major events
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Utilizing VIP and agency network within sports industry. Establishing a wide network within the world of sports, particularly in football.
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Content and social media planning and management for athletes
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Developing media briefs and key communications plans and handling crisis communication
EDUCATION & MEMBERSHIPS
Nottingham Trent University (Honours in Laws LLB)
Universite de Lausanne (LLB)
Law Society of Ireland (Finance and Leasing)
MBA Sports Management Real Madrid/ UEFA
LANGUAGES
English, French, Spanish and German.
Alishia Chotu
Senior Legal Consultant
Alishia specializes in Media, Telecom and Technology and advises on regulatory, commercial and corporate related matters. Alicia has advised “OSN”, the biggest pay tv operator in the Middle East. She has also advised “iflix”, an international video on demand service based in Malaysia.
In her previous roles, Alishia had worked as Group Legal Counsel for PCCW Global Limited, Hong Kong's number 1 pay TV, mobile, broadband and fixed line operator in their e-commerce video on demand business, Senior Associate in the TMT department of Werksmans Attorneys in Johannesburg, one of the top 5 law firms in South Africa, sole legal counsel at MTV Networks Africa (Viacom International Media Networks) in Johannesburg and legal counsel at The Walt Disney Company in London.
In addition to the extensive experience in media, information, communications and technology sector, Alishia has excellent experience in general commercial law, corporate law and in the negotiation and drafting of a wide range of agreements.
EXPERIENCE
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Drafting and negotiation of all content licensing agreements for use of such content on our Pay TV and OTT Services.
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Drafting and negotiating carriage and re-distribution agreements with operators.
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Drafting and negotiating agreements related to technology and broadcasting. These include master service agreements, statements of work, service level agreements, satellite carriage agreements, internet delivery and services facilities, software as a service and software licensing agreements.
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Advising on regulatory compliance of MultiChoice Africa's (DSTV) pay television services in each of the 52 African countries that the service operates in.
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Drafting and negotiating agreements relating to the distribution of the service on telco and non telco platforms across Asia, MENA and Africa, marketing and communications, ad sales and sponsorships, consumer relations such as privacy policy, subscription terms and conditions.
EDUCATION & MEMBERSHIPS
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LLB (Law) – University of KwaZulu Natal, South Africa
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Admitted Attorney of South Africa
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Admitted Solicitor of England and Wales
LANGUAGES
English (Native speaker)
Clive D’Souza
Legal Consultant
Symbiosis Law School in Pune, India and was born and raised in Abu Dhabi, UAE. His practice focuses on Sports Law, Regulatory Law, Intellectual Property Law, Healthcare Law, Technology, Media and Telecommunications Law.
While in university, Clive developed an interest in reading, researching and writing about legal issues in Sport. He decided to turn this passion into a career and pursued an internship with one of India’s leading boutique sports law firms named LawNK. While at the firm, Clive got hands-on experience in sports governance research, sports broadcasting agreements, intellectual property brand protection work and anti-doping matters.
On returning to the UAE, Clive interned with Al Tamimi & Company in their sports law department. During this period, Clive familiarized himself with laws affecting the sports and media industry that are specific to the MENA region. At the firm’s Sports Law department Clive also worked on sports sponsorship, events management and sports broadcasting agreements.
Clive has also completed internships in Abu Dhabi with Al Tamimi & Company at the ADGM in its corporate & commercial regulatory, healthcare and technology law departments doing a broad range of corporate & commercial work. This included legal research, reviewing, drafting contracts and agreements, legal due diligence, drafting articles for the firm’s magazine and website and helping lawyers assist clients in complying with the latest regulatory developments in the UAE and the wider MENA region.
EXPERIENCE
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Was part of the team that organized India’s first Sports Law & Policy Symposium held in Bangalore, India.
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Conducted legal research and drafted articles for the Sports Law & Policy Centre of India.
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Advising on intellectual property protection programs to identify illegal broadcast of sporting events to issue cease and desist notices on behalf of clients.
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Drafting and reviewing sport related agreements such as an Events Management Agreement, Sports Broadcasting Agreement, Sports Sponsorship agreement to gain a broader understanding of the contractual documents within the sports and entertainment sector.
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Researched and analyzed the existing legal and regulatory framework of the eSports Industry within the Middle East and interviewed various stakeholders of the eSports Industry in the UAE to understand the ground realities of the regulatory framework and the challenges faced by the eSports Industry in the region.
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Conducted research on the benefits of privatization for a GCC sports authority.
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Conducted a benchmarking exercise for international best practice in sports and events legislation for a government entity in the GCC.
EDUCATION & MEMBERSHIPS
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BBA/LLB, Symbiosis Law School, Pune (2019)
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Enrolled with the Bar Council of Maharashtra and Goa (2020)
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Member of the LawInSport Global Community of Sports Law and Business Professionals
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The Olympic Games and The Media – Universitat Autonoma de Barcelona
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Sports and Society – Duke University
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Doping : Sports, Organizations and Sciences – University of Lausanne
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Sports Law Academy Graduate at Mishcon De Reya LLP
LANGUAGES
English, Hindi and Malayalam.
Uche George Egbe
Legal Consultant
Uche‘s practice focuses on Corporate, Commercial, and Sports Law. Uche has worked for Ministry of
Justice and the League Management Company of the Nigerian Professional Football League.
EXPERIENCE
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Legal drafting, including the preparation and review of various types of commercial agreements.
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Legal and business development advisory services.
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Legal risk assessment and management.
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Corporate Communications.
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Disputes resolution.
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LMC/NASD OTC Capital Market Partnership – Team Lead, Review and Implementation.
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Club Licensing for the 2020/2021 season of the Nigeria Professional
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Football League – Licensing Manager.
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NPFL/La Liga U15 Promises Tournament – Member, Organizing Committee.
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Frameworks and Rules of the Nigeria Professional Football League – Member, Review Team.
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Redstrike/NPFLtv Media Partnership – Member, Legal Team.
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NPFL Disputes Adjudicatory Unit of the LMC – Member.
EDUCATION & MEMBERSHIPS
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University of Nigeria, Nsukka. – LL.B
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Nigerian Law School – B.A (2014)
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Nigerian Bar Association - Member.
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Institute of Chartered Secretaries and Administrators – Associate Member.
LANGUAGES
English and Igbo.