MESGO mourns the passing of Dr Dirk-Reiner Martens

It is with great sadness that we learned of the passing of Dr Dirk-Reiner Martens on November 11, 2020.

Dr Martens was one of the most influential and renowned lawyers in the sports movement: and one of the pioneers in sports law in Germany and Worldwide.

Due to his extraordinary expertise in commercial and sports arbitration, at national and international level, he has acted in more than 250 arbitration proceedings relating to commercial law and to sports law either as an arbitrator, President of the tribunal or party representative. In addition to the CAS, Dr Martens was also listed as an arbitrator at the AAA, JAMS, CRCIA (Cairo, Egypt), FIA (Formula 1) and ICDR.

A strong advocate of alternative sports dispute resolution mechanisms, Dr Martens was one of the original creators of the Basketball Arbitral Tribunal (BAT), which today is the second largest sports arbitral tribunal in the world.

Dr Martens also worked with numerous Olympic and non-Olympic Sports Federations, advising on and implementing new systems of governance.

For MESGO, it has been an honour and a privilege to have Dr Martens among our high-profile speakers for each of our legal seminars. His presentations and sharing his experience as CAS arbitrator in particular, were always highly appreciated by the MESGO participants.

Both as a leading sports lawyer and CAS arbitrator, but also as a constantly enthusiastic, passionate and caring person, Dr Martens will be deeply missed. All the MESGO team convey their sincere condolences to Mrs Martens, to Mr and Mrs Martens’ families and friends, and to Mr Martens’ colleagues at Martens Rechtsanwälte. Our thoughts are with them during this very difficult time.

A MESGO week dedicated to ethics in sport

From 23 to 27 September 2019 the MESGO V participants were in Germany for Session 7 of the programme. Jointly directed by Dr Holger Preuss, Dr Mathias Schubert and Volker Bernardi from the Johannes Gutenberg University (JGU) in Mainz, the session covered several topics related to ethics in sport, such as corruption, sport for disabled athletes, anti-doping and environmental sustainability.

The session took place in various locations across Mainz and Frankfurt: the Johannes Gutenberg University, the Mainzer Golfclub, the German Olympic Sports Confederation (DOSB), the Opel Arena (Mainz 05 Stadium) and the Rowing Clubhaus Germania.

The session started at the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz with an introduction to ethics and sport by Mike McNamee, professor at Swansea University.

In a second presentation, Professor Jim Parry (Charles University, Prague) focused on the integrity debate in sport.

The second day opened up with Brendan Schwab, executive director at World Players Association and former FIFPro vice-president who presented us the Human Rights of Players in World Sport.

Among other speakers, Anne Tiivas, chair and director at Safe Sport International, focussed on the protection of children, young people and adult athletes from all forms of non-accidental violence in sport.

At the German Olympic Sports Organisation: Welcome speech by Veronika Rücker, secretary general at the German Olympic Sports confederation.

Jens Sejer Andersen, international director of Play the Game, talked about initiatives to fight corruption in sport.

At the Opel Arena (Mainz 05 Stadium): Presentation about the Paralympic movement and the current challenges in disability sport by Natalia Dannenberg-Spreier, head of brand and engagement at the International Paralympic Committee.

In his presentation, Thomas Weikert, president of the International Tennis Table Federation, discussed the social responsibility of sports organisations.

The session ended at the Rowing Clubhaus Germania: Michelle Lemaître, head of sustainability and Olympic legacy at the International Olympic Committee, presented the IOC’s sustainability strategy and share her expertise in this field.

MESGO sessions are also an opportunity for participants to share special moments. Several team-building activities took place during the week, including wine tasting, golfing and climbing.

The next MESGO session, which will focus on the North American model, will take place in New York from 2 to 6 December 2019.

The MESGO team in Barcelona for session 6

MESGO V participants recently visited Barcelona for the sixth session of the programme. Francesc Solanellas, professor in sports management at Institut Nacional d’Educació Física de Catalunya (National Physical Education Institute of Catalonia) organised the session, which took place from 17 to 21 June and was dedicated to sports events.

The session began at INEFC on Monday 17 June, where Professor Francesc Solanellas introduced the Barcelona session and gave a presentation looking back on 25 years of sports events in Barcelona. Then, Iain Edmondson provided the city perspective with the case study of London and the 2012 Olympics. The day ended with a tour of the Olympic Ring by bike.

Tour of the Olympic Ring.

On Tuesday 18 June, the group visited the headquarters of Euroleague Basketball. The participants got to meet among other Xavier Gonzalez (former CEO of IPC), Jordi Bertomeu Orteu (chief executive and president of Euroleague Basketball), Roser Queraltó (chief business development officer) and Patrice Coste (commercial events manager at UEFA SA and former MESGO participant). Prior to the visit of FC Barcelona stadium and museum through the “Camp Nou Experience”, Javier Sobrino (strategic planning and innovation director at FC Barcelona) introduced the governance system and the strategy of FC Barcelona.

Participants at Euroleague Basketball.

At Euroleague Basketball: Presentation of the Euroleague model by Bertomeu Orteu, chief executive and president of Euroleague Basketball.

Presentation of the Turkish Airlines EuroLeague Final Four by Roser Queraltó, chief business development officer, Euroleague Basketball.

Presentation of the UEFA Nations League by Patrice Coste, commercial events manager at UEFA SA and former MESGO participant.

Wednesday’s session was held at the Barcelona World Race, where Jeremy Cottino from UEFA and former IOC, presented risk management in a global view to make participants more aware about the global threats that could happen in a sports event and the way to prevent them. John Bailey, international expert on crisis communication gave participants the methodology to collect, process and disseminate information required to address a crisis communication. The day ended with a catamaran cruise as part of the week’s social event.

Jeremy Cottino, programme manager, CEO Office, UEFA

John Bailey, managing consultant, Global Communications Consulting

The following day, the MESGO group went to the Circuit de Barcelona Catalunya.

Joan Fontseré (CEO of the Circuit), provided an introduction to the circuit. Then, moving on to MotoGP, Pau Serracanta i Marcet, managing director for the commercial area at Dorna Sports, gave a presentation on Dorna Sports.

Joan Fontseré, CEO, Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

Pau Serracanta i Marcet, managing director for the commercial area, Dorna Sports.

Holger Preuss (Professor at Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz) and Gilbert Felli (former head of the Sport Department at the IOC) concluded the session by presenting the post-event issues (legacy, knowledge transfer and economic impact).

Back at INEFC on the Friday, the participants defended their MESGO thesis subjects in front of a jury.

The next MESGO session, which will focus on ethics, will take place in Mainz and Frankfurt am Main (Germany) from 23 to 27 September 2019.

MESGO congratulates Leonid Oleinicenco

A participant from the MESGO V edition has been appointed to a new executive position.

Leonid Oleinicenco has has been elected as president of the Football Association of Moldova (FMF). Leonid Oleinicenco was previously the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the organisation. Unanimously elected at the association’s extraordinary congress in Chisinau, he succeeded Pavel Cebanu, who spent 22 years at the helm of Moldovan football. He pledged to give greater impetus to the development of football in the country.

The MESGO in London for the fifth session

The fifth session of MESGO V edition took place in London from 29 April to 3 May 2019. The session was dedicated to Strategic Marketing and directed by Tim Dignard, Manager of UEFA Champions League Sponsorship.

During this week, MESGO participants had the opportunity to attend the presentations in the following locations across London:

  • Lord’s Cricket Ground
  • Twickenham Stadium
  • Chelsea FC
  • BT Tower
  • The Shard

The first day of the marketing week was focused on marketing in general and how marketing activities are or should be applied to the world of sport.

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Lord’s Cricket Ground: Presentation about the importance of a strong brand by Adrian Goldthorpe, Chief Executive Officer, Lothar Böhm Associates

Day 2 was dedicated to the sports fan. We dived deeper into the field of digital and social marketing, an area that is becoming more and more important for any sports organisation.

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At Twickenham Stadium: Presentation about CRM and the importance of data by Pénélope Tomasi CRM Manager at UEFA.

The following day we took a deep dive into sponsorship from three unique yet equally important angles: the agency, brand and rights holder perspective.

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At Chelsea FC: Presentation by Adrian Farina, Head of Marketing at Europe Marketing Visa about Visa and Women’s Football – Purpose, commitment, authenticity

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The group visited the facilities of Chelsea FC Stamford Bridge

During the fourth day the focus was entirely on the broadcast environment and broadcast rights – for many rights holders a very important source of income but also the window through which to bring the sport to a wider audience.

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Round-table discussion about the future broadcast landscape – BT Tower. The speakers from left to right: Andrew Haworth, Managing Director Strategy and Content, BT; Rhys Beer, Sports Programming Lead, Facebook; Frank Dunne, Chief Footbal Writer, SportBusiness Group; Guy-Laurent Epstein, Marketing Director, UEFA; Ioris Francini, Co-President, WME IMG.

The final day of this MESGO session was focus on the new trends that are re-shaping the way we look at marketing. Influencer marketing has quickly become one of the biggest tactics to reach targeted audiences, leveraged by brands and sporting bodies alike.

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At the Shard: Presentation by Arron Shepherd, Co-Founder and Chief Storyteller, The Goat Agency about the rise of influencer marketing.

The next MESGO session which will take place in Barcelona from 17 to 21 June 2019 will focus on sports events.

MESGO congratulates Rea Walshe, Joanna Poulton and Ciska Du Plessis Austin

Three participants of the MESGO V edition were appointed to new senior positions.

Rea Walshe has stepped into the role of interim chief executive at the Football Association of Ireland. Rea Walshe was previously corporate affairs and licensing director at the organisation. Last month she became chief operating officer and took on overall responsibility for FAI governance. Rea Walshe previously worked at Dublin’s Greene Solicitors and at Liberty Insurance. She joined the Football Association of Ireland in May 2014 as head of legal and licensing.

 

The British Bobsleigh & Skeleton Association (BBSA) has announced the appointment of Joanna Poulton as its new Chair. Joanna has joined the Board of the national governing body for the British winter sports of skeleton and bobsleigh with immediate effect, with confirmation of her position as Chair expected at the upcoming Board meeting in April. Her most recent positions were as non-Executive Director with GB Snowsport (the governing body of British Skiing and Snowboarding) and the Royal Yachting Association (the governing body for British Sailing).

 

Ciska Austin Du Plessis was recently appointed as Vice President of Cycling South Africa. In her role as Vice President and executive board member, Ciska had been tasked to update and maintain the federation’s sporting and governance policies and to play a supportive role to the President, Executive Committee and the various Commissions. She will work closely with staff and all the board members to ensure enhanced performance in all areas by providing training and guidance.

The fourth MESGO V session took place in Strasbourg

The MESGO V participants were in Strasbourg from 11 to 15 March 2019 for their fourth session, which focused on the legal frameworks in European sport. Codirected by Nathalie Alaphilippe and Jean-Christophe Breillat, both lawyers at CDES.

The participants visited the Ligue de Football du Grand Est on the Monday for an introduction to this legal week. Then, they received a warm welcome from the Racing Club de Strasbourg Alsace on the Tuesday, when the CAS arbitrator Efraim Barak presented the management of a legal department and Loïc Alves, lawyer at the European Handball Federation and MESGO IV graduate, explained the importance of sound proceedings in disciplinary matters.

The Wednesday was dedicated to EU law. Hosted by the Council of Europe, one of the MESGO partner, the participants got to meet among other Helen Keller (Judge at the European Court of Uman Rights), Jeroen Schokkenbroek (Director of Anti-Discrimination at the Council of Europ), Agata Dziarnowska (Policy Officer at the European Commission) and Julien Zylberstein (Senior Legal Counsel at UEFA and former MESGO graduate).

Then the MESGO participants had the opportunity to visit the European Parliament and to discuss with Members of the European Parliament: Santiago Fisas from Spain-Co-chair of the Sports Intergroup, Tiziana Beghin from Italy-vice Chair of the Sports Intergroup and Marc Tarabella, co-chair of the Sports Intergroup.

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European social dialogue was the main topic discussed on the Thursday, before moving on to EU lobbying on the final day.

As usual, a team-building event was organised during the week – in this case a dinner in a traditional Alsatian brasserie “le Tigre” when we shared some delicious flambé tarts.

The next session, dedicated to strategic marketing, will be held in London from 29 April to 3 May 2015.

MESGO V participants in Rome for third session

From Monday 28 January to 1 February 2019, the MESGO V participants were in Rome for the third session of the programme, which was dedicated to the design and regulation of competitions.

Organised by Sean Hamil, director of the Birkbeck Sport Business Centre, this third session was aimed at examining the external regulatory functions of sports governing bodies, particularly how they apply to the design and regulation of competitions.

The MESGO sessions were held in various locations including the Italian Football Federation, the Olympic Stadium Roma and the Olympic Centre Giulio Onesti where our MESGO graduate – Fiona May, Ex olympian medallist in Track and Field – took part to the session as speaker.

It had also been an opportunity for the participants to listen and discuss with two representatives of two MESGO sport partners namely Michael Heselschwerdt, UEFA Head of Club Competitions and Markus Glaser, EHF Chief Sports Officer. The participants were also delighted to meet Frédéric Bertrand, FIA Director, Circuit Racing Championship Department, as well as David Conn, a journalist for The Guardian.

We would like also to thank all the speakers that came to Rome. Having representatives from FIFA, UEFA, FIGC, CONI, national federations as well as EHF, FIFPro, ECA and CIES was a key component of the week and allowed a powerful interaction with the MESGO participants.

The Thursday evening was dedicated to the visit of the Stadio di Dominiziano, followed by a dinner in a traditional Romanian restaurant as part of the social event.

The fourth MESGO session will be held in Strasbourg next month from 11 to 15 March and will be dedicated to the legal frameworks governing European sport.

Photo 1At the Italian Football Federation (FIGC): Presentation about the future issues in financial integrity in sport by Jan Peter Dogge, Integrity manager, Royal Netherlands Football Association and MESGO III graduate

Photo 2At the Italian National Olympic Committee: Welcome by Giovanni Malago, the CONI President and Diego Nepi Molineris, the CONI Director of Marketing

Photo 3Presentation about Competition design innovation in motorsports by Frédéric Bertrand, Director of Circuit Championships Department – Fédération Internationale de l’Automobile (Olympic Center Giulio Onesti)

Photo 4Presentation about the organisation and structure of Serie A by Marco Brunelli, CIO, Serie A

Photo 5Visit of the Stadio di Dominiziano, Piazza Navona

Second MESGO session takes place in Switzerland

From 26 to 30 November 2018, the MESGO V participants were in Lausanne, Nyon and Geneva for the second session of the programme, which was dedicated to the governance of sports organisations. This session was led by Professor Jean-Philippe Bonardi, Dean of HEC Lausanne.

During this week, MESGO V participants had the opportunity to go to HEC Lausanne (University of Lausanne), the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Motorcycling Federation (FIM), the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and finally to the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) to present and discuss the main challenges, missions and objectives of sports organisations.

The debates focused on the governance of national and international sports organisations, with case studies dedicated to the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the Badminton World Federation (BWF). Other presentations focused on corporate governance issues, innovation in the context of sport and the decision-making processes.

Overall, MESGO V participants have been able to listen, discuss and share their views with senior leaders from various sports organisations, such as:

  • Marie Sallois, Executive Director for Corporate Development, IOC;
  • Berti Denervaud, Sports Director, FWT;
  • Andreas Zagklis, General Counsel/Legal Director, FIBA;
  • Miles Templeman, Independent Non-Executive Director, Rugby Football Union;
  • Martin Kallen, Chief Executive Officer, UEFA Events SA

MESGO sessions are also an opportunity for participants to share special moments. Several team-building activities took place during the week, including cooking, wine tasting and a football game.

Next stop will take place in Roma, Italy, from 28 January to 1st February 2019 and will be dedicated to competition design and regulation.

MESGO V – Let’s start in Paris!

The new MESGO cohort met in the City of Light. “Context of international sport” was the main focus of this first session.

The first session of this fifth MESGO edition took place from 24th to 28th September 2018 in various locations across Paris: Molitor, the French Football Federation (FFF), the French Basketball Federation (FFBB), Paris-Saint-Germain Football Club (PSG) and the International Automobile Federation (FIA).

The main topic, « Context of International Sport », was covered at institutional, legal and economic levels and integrated into the social, technological and media contexts. Current challenges faced by the sports movement were addressed and potential solutions discussed.

During the week, the participants had the opportunity to interact with a large panel of experts in their field, such as:

  • Gabe Shawn Varges, Senior Partner, HCM International
  • Tim Crabbe, CEO, Substance
  • Mogens Kirkeby, President, International Sport and Culture Association
  • Samy Ouerfelli, General Manager, ESL France
  • Lambis Konstantinidis, Director of Planning & Coordination, IOC/IPC Relations and IKM

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The new MESGO cohort at the French Football Federation

On Thursday night, the participants, the speakers and several graduates of the previous MESGO editions enjoyed a dinner at La Maison de l’Amérique Latine where they had the chance to taste the fine French cuisine. We took benefit of this occasion to give their diploma to the four MESGO IV participants who successfully defend their thesis prior to this event. Congratulations to Andrew, Patrice, Fiona and Doug!

Next stop will be in Lausanne and Nyon, Switzerland, from 26th to 30th November. “Governance of Sports Organisations” will be the main focus for this second session of the 5th MESGO edition.