Onside Law partner, Oliver Hunt, spoke to The Law Society Gazette on his recent involvement with Eden Hazard’s high profile transfer to Real Madrid.

Click here to read the full article.

The exclusive purchase period for acquiring your .uk domain extension has nearly expired

In June 2014, the .uk domain name extension was launched. Owners of existing .co.uk, .org.uk, .me.uk, .net.uk, .plc.uk, and ltd.uk domain names were given an exclusive period to acquire the corresponding .uk extension for their domain names (during which time this extension has been unavailable for third parties). This exclusive period expires on 25 June 2019, after which .uk domain names will become publicly available. For more information, please see here.

If you are the owner of one of the domain names listed above, you have until 25 June 2019 to secure the equivalent .uk domain name.  We strongly recommend doing so to avoid third parties buying your name and “cyber-squatting” (i.e. seeking to hold you to ransom).

 Please get in touch if you need any assistance.

Onside Law advises Eden Hazard on transfer to Real Madrid

Onside Law is pleased to have assisted Eden Hazard on his hotly-anticipated transfer from Chelsea to Real Madrid. Having moved from Lille to Chelsea in 2012, Hazard has established himself as one of the best players in the world, playing an integral role in Chelsea’s Premier League-winning 2014-15 and 2016-17 seasons, and he will be looking to add a UEFA Champions League medal to his impressive silverware collection when he officially joins the Spanish giants at the start of July.

Oliver Hunt, one of the firm’s founding partners, has been advising Eden since his move to Chelsea, and he flew in to Madrid from the US Open at Pebble Beach to attend Hazard’s unveiling in front of over 50,000 fans at the Bernabeu.  Oliver said “it has been a privilege to work for Eden on his move to Real Madrid.  He is a class act on and off the field, and I look forward to watching him shine at arguably the most iconic club in the world.”

Eden Hazard said “my dream ever since I was a child has been to play for Real Madrid. Thank you Oliver for all of your help.”

Onside Law looks forward to continuing to assist Hazard on a wide range of commercial matters and wishes him every success at his new club.

For further information on the above, please contact monisha.jackson@onsidelaw.co.uk

Onside Law were delighted to work with BT to secure the widest ever lead partnership in English football as announced this morning. In a very tight time frame, to catch the Nations League Semi Finals and the Women’s World Cup, BT secured lead partnership rights to the FA and England Teams as well as extending EE’s lead sponsorship of Wembley stadium.

Mark Haigh – Head of Legal, Media Services at  BT Consumer commented  “for such an important partnership for BT, we really valued having the specialist advice and experience, combined with a commercial approach, that Onside Law brought to the negotiations”

 For further information click here

Senior Associate, Harriet Leach and Associate, Jamie Ptaszynski provide an update on our recent note “Banned for Being Yourself.”

CAS has dismissed the legal challenge from Caster Semenya concerning IAAF’s proposed DSD Regulations governing athletes’ eligibility to participate in certain restricted “female” events.

Whilst the decision seemingly leaves it open for international federations, governing bodies and regulators to set their own rules and regulations for gender classification, key lessons from Semenya should be considered and kept under review.  These are set out in full in our note but in summary include:

• Should participants be divided by gender or biological attributes and if so how?
• Is division required at all levels of the sport or just elite competition?
• Are the reasons “necessary, proportionate and legitimate”?
• What happens if an athlete cannot fulfil the governing criteria of their preferred event?
• What is the risk profile, including challenge on discriminatory and human rights grounds?

Click here for the full article.

Onside Law Partner, Jamie Singer considers the German Courts’ recent intervention re Olympic marketing restrictions.

Rule 40 of the Olympic Charter is famous, or perhaps infamous, in sponsorship circles. It imposes some of the most onerous marketing restrictions in sport. Those restrictions have now been challenged by the German competition courts.

Click here for the full article