Representing Kevin De Bruyne & FIFA Agent Regs - Daan Buylaert & Sven Demeulemeester - E129

Daan Buylaert & Sven Demeulemeester are founders and Partners of ATFIELD, a collaborations between of full service law firm Altius and the tax law firm Tiberghien, which provides a single point of contact for sports sector.

Their clients include football clubs inside and outside of Belgian, investors in acquiring clubs, players, cyclists and cycle teams, Olympic athletes and sports federations.

Recently, Daan & Sven advised Kevin de Bruyne during his latest contract renewal with Manchester City, a deal that made headlines because of the player's decision to negotiate the contract without an agent and to use data analytics in order to seek a wage raise.

In this interview Daan and Sven talk about:

1:59 - The type of work that Atfield do
5:05 - The key developments of sports law & football in Belgium;
9:32 - The background to the approach taken to advising Kevin De Bruyne on his contract renewal
15:24 - Pros and cons of a player having a professional team vs football agent
24:05 - How can players ensure the team they have around them is working in their best interest?
26:43 - Thoughts on the upcoming changes to FIFA's agents regulations and what they hope to see be incorporated
31:54 - Advice for football agents given the changing legal, regulatory and commercial landscape
34:24 - The importance of data for professionals working in football

Sven is a labour and social security lawyer who specialises in sports. He is a partner at ALTIUS and advises on all aspects of employment, sports litigation and arbitration. He has almost 20 years of experience and as a trusted advisor to many different stakeholders, he is well versed in the day-to-day issues that many in the sports sector struggle with. Sven is a member of the International Football Association (AIAF) and he is also the former director of a professional football club. He lectures and publishes on FIFA regulations, working with intermediaries, (business) transfers, civil liability for sports injuries, cross border employment contracts and much more. He is ranked in Chambers, praised by Legal500 for his expertise in sports law and recognized as a Global Leader in Sports by Who’s Who Legal.

Daan is a partner at Tiberghien and heads the Sports & Tax department. As a tax lawyer, he focuses on Belgian and cross-border tax issues for both Belgian resident and non-resident athletes. Daan assists some of the biggest sportsmen/women and their families with their ongoing international affairs and end-of-career planning. He has particular expertise in coordinating an athlete’s relocation every step of the way and providing tax advice on the taxation of income received from clubs, sponsoring bodies and promotors. Daan also frequently advises clubs on all matters relating to Belgian and international tax law.

 
We thoroughly enjoyed the interview and took a lot away from it. We hope you do the same. 
 
The host is Sean Cottrell (@spcott), CEO of LawInSport and is co-hosted by Manan Agrawal (@Manan1Agrawal), Editor at LawInSport. 
 
For more sports law news, commentary and analysis go to LawInSport.com https://www.lawinsport.com/
 
Upcoming Events: https://www.lawinsport.com/sports-law-events
LawInSport Recruitment: https://www.lawinsport.com/jobs
LawInSport Annual Conference: https://www.lawinsport.com/sports-law-events/upcoming-events/conference/114-annual-conference-understand-the-rules-of-the-game-2021
LawInSport Academy Mentoring Scheme: https://www.lawinsport.com/announcements
 
Follow us on Twitter @LawInSport and Sean at @spcott.
Listen to podcast on:
1.     Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/lawinsport
2.     iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/gb/podcast/lawinsport-sports-law-podcast/id655761738?mt=2
3.     Most Android podcast apps.
4.     Spotify