Supported by Asters, the Students' League of the Ukrainian Bar Association (UBA) held its first All-Ukrainian School of Sports Law. The event took place on 2 and 3 February, 2013 at the Law Faculty of Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.
The event brought together over 100 participants, including legal practitioners from the leading law firms, law students, as well as representatives of the National Olympic Committee and various sports federations.
The school comprised of six sessions and panel discussions. Among them were sections dealing with key principles of sports law in Ukraine and internationally, labour relations in sports, regulation of agents, and commercial rights. The second day was dedicated to matters of liability, dispute resolution and arbitration in sports. The gathering culminated in a moot court competition, where law students could try their hand in solving legal cases prepared by experienced colleagues. Asters' associates Oleksiy Kolchanov and Pavlo Odnokoz spoke about contracts in sports, rules governing sports agents and matters of taxation affecting sports.
Oleksiy Kolchanov, senior associate at Asters and the chairman of the UBA’s Sports Committee, says ‘I believe that this event is an important step forward in the development of sports law in Ukraine. This area of law, which has a long history in many other countries, is just coming into its own in Ukraine. Sports today is a vast and powerful industry, which daily impacts nearly all of us. This is perhaps the only industry where we eagerly follow the events, support our players and react with emotion to the news, be it the match results, big transfers or even disputes. But behind many sports events are not only record-breaking efforts of the athletes but also the hard work of sports lawyers. It is they who ensure that competitions and transfers go as planned and that the victories, reputations and careers are protected. Today Ukraine is well integrated into the world of sports, and the country’s law practice must develop rapidly to catch up with this reality. This was the reason why we at Asters took lead in organizing this event. We sought to make sure that the participants really benefitted from the time spent at this unique event.’