Following our previous announcement and as part of the ongoing growth of the firm, applications for the next round of our graduate recruitment programme for aspiring solicitors are open until 12 September 2025. The successful applicant(s) will have the opportunity to work with and learn from some of the most experienced and well-respected sport and media lawyers in a collaborative environment and gain exposure to a range of practice areas, including player/athlete contracts and transfers, dispute resolution, commercial, regulatory and governance, disciplinary and integrity, employment and immigration work.
As part of the ongoing growth of the firm and following our first trainee recruit in 2024, Centrefield is delighted to announce that applications for its graduate recruitment programme for aspiring solicitors will reopen on 1 August 2025. The successful applicant(s) will have the opportunity to work with and learn from some of the most experienced and well-respected sport and media lawyers in a collaborative environment and gain exposure to a range of practice areas, including player/athlete contracts and transfers, dispute resolution, commercial, regulatory and governance, disciplinary and integrity, employment and immigration work.
We are delighted to have won ‘TMT Firm of the Year’ at the ‘Legal 500 Northern Powerhouse Awards’ in Manchester last night.
Next month, the law on preventing sexual harassment in the workplace will be changing. With sexual harassment remaining a prevalent issue across all industries, including within sport in general and football in particular, the new Worker Protection (Amendment of Equality Act 2010) Act 2023 (the “Act”), which comes into force on 26 October 2024, introduces a new duty on employers to take “reasonable steps” to prevent sexual harassment of their employees in the course of their employment – whether perpetrated by colleagues, or by any third party (e.g. suppliers or customers). Although taking reasonable steps to prevent sexual harassment is already good practice (and, from a legal perspective, is important for a host of other, existing legal duties for employers), the Act will impose a higher bar for employers to act proactively to reduce the risks of sexual harassment occurring, with the potential for significant compensation if they fail in this duty.
The summer transfer window of 2024 saw a record breaking level of activity with FIFA reporting that over 12,000 international transfers occurred across the men’s and women’s professional game. The value of these transfers reached over $6.45 billion on transfer fees in men’s football, the second highest figure ever recorded, whilst women’s football’s record outlay of $6.8 million worth of transfer fees worldwide was over double the value of the 2023 summer transfer window.
After the developments over the festive period/new year in relation to the implementation of the FIFA Football Agent Regulations (and associated National Football Agent Regulations) and the uncertainty that has ensued, the Centrefield Toolkit remains available to club, agent and player clients, in order to provide some clarity and advice on the position for the January window and beyond.
The summer 2023 football transfer window was a record breaking one for football, with FIFA reporting that over 10,000 transfers were completed in men’s football (with total transfer fees over US$7 billion) and over 800 transfers in women’s football that were collectively worth over US$3 million.
Following the FIFA Football Agent Regulations (FFAR) becoming operative on 9 January 2023, we have launched the Centrefield FFAR Toolkit to provide bespoke, tailored and practical advice to clients in respect of the FFAR and the associated implications of the new regime.
As Lionel Messi and team advance in the world’s biggest football tournament in Qatar, Centrefield is delighted to have advised its US based client MetaLantis on its partnership with the Argentinian Football Association (AFA) in respect of the development of the official virtual stadium of AFA.
Centrefield is delighted to be included in The Times Best Law Firms 2023, a list of the top 250 legal practices in England and Wales (https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/best-law-firms-9kh6q236r). Based on independent research and nominations from other lawyers, we are one of only fifteen firms included in respect of sport and entertainment.