Steven Flynn Sports Law Barrister

Sport

SPORT

Steven is recognised as ‘one of the top sports law juniors in the UK’ (Legal 500), dealing with contractual and commercial disputes in this sector, as well as disciplinary and regulatory issues. He is noted as having ‘best knowledge of on-field disciplinary work and [as] a go-to in this area’ (Chambers UK) and for his ‘niche experience of handling employment disputes within the professional sports world’ (Legal 500). He regularly appears on his own against QCs or leading a multi-disciplinary team in complex disputes.

Steven is regularly instructed by players, clubs, agents, governing bodies, players’ unions, fans and sponsors across a wide variety of sports including football, rugby union and league, boxing, tennis and golf. He has advised at all levels of sport and has acted for and against many high-profile participants and organisations including matters involving: the FA; the RFU; UK Sport; the Premier League; Manchester United FC; Manchester City FC; Chelsea FC; Liverpool FC; the LTA; Rotherham Titans RFC; Bradford Bulls RLFC; Toronto Wolfpack RLFC; Chester Racecourse; Archery GB; the PFA; the RLPA; the FSF; and many others. He has also been instructed by high profile companies who wish to enter into commercial rights/sponsorship agreements with such organisations.

In addition to dealing with commercial and regulatory matters, Steven is also regularly instructed in cases relating to discrimination in sport. He has experience in advising on the rights and obligations imposed on players, clubs and governing bodies by the Equality Act 2010 including appearing in a trial due to last 6 weeks where a participant claimed £120 million from a governing body.

Steven’s work also involves him representing participants before disciplinary and appeals panels, as well in court and at arbitration. This includes Rule K arbitrations, the EFL Player Related Dispute Commission, the British Boxing Board of Control Regulation 24 arbitration and before the Court of Arbitration for Sport. In recent times, Steven has been appointed by British Gymnastics, British Cycling and England Boxing to hear disciplinary/appeals panels, and is a member of the Sport Resolutions Panel of Arbitrators.

Reflective of his experience and expertise in the sector, Steven has been appointed a Visiting Sports Law Fellow at the Centre for Sports Law Research at Edge Hill University and is regularly invited to lecture on sports law LLMs at a variety of universities.

A summary of his work in different areas can be found below:

Agents

Steven is regularly instructed by sports agents who seek his assistance in the drafting of agency agreements to adequately protect their interests. He also advises participants as to the legal implications of any agency agreement that they are planning to enter and represents both agents and participants in breach of contract/unpaid fee disputes. He has recently:

Represented a manager in a British Boxing Board of Control Regulation 24 Arbitration in a £30 million claim against his former client.
Representing an intermediary in a claim for £1,2m in a claim before the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Represented a player in Rule K arbitration proceedings relating to a claim for commission arising from his transfer to the Chinese Super League.
Advised an English international footballer on the enforceability of a contract he had entered with a sports agency.
Represented a professional darts player in his dispute with his former manager.
Representing a boxing promoter in a claim for £2,4m against a client who terminated their contract in breach of the notice provisions.
Advised a sports agency on a claim for non-payment of fees by a club and the referral of the dispute to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
Advised a footballer as to the potential remedies available to him against an agent whose actions had prevented his move to a Premier League club.
Representing agents accused of inducing a player to breach their contract.

Anti-Doping & Mechanical Doping

Steven is instructed by governing bodies, clubs and participants to assist in relation to anti-doping matters. This includes investigations, internal disciplinary proceedings and hearings before the National Anti-Doping Panel.

Steven also has experience of dealing with mechanical/electronic doping in cycling, having represented a cyclist who was accused of manipulating data to improve his access enhanced eRacing equipment.

Recent cases include:

Football – Representing a professional footballer alleged to have provided a sample that contained a Higenamine.
Representing a governing body before the NADP in a case where the athlete contended that the source of the prohibited substance was training supplements that he had been provided with from a reputable source.
Rugby – Acting for a player who was accepted that he had committed an ADRV but who sought to argue that he bore no fault, or, in the alternative, no significant fault.
Rugby – Acted for 3 players who were found to have taken recreational drugs who sought to argue that the drugs were taken out of competition so as not to attract a ban. Steven also advised them on the internal the disciplinary matters arising from the same allegations.
Boxing – Instructed by the boxer’s manager to review and advise on tactical response to an allegation that the boxer had injected nandrolone. The boxer contended that the source of the nandrolone was contaminated food. This involved an examination of the testing process and expert evidence as to whether the source of the elevated nandrolone was exogenous and endogenous.

Disciplinary and other internal proceedings

As well as representing clubs and participants who were subject to disciplinary action before a wide plethora of governing bodies (including, the FA, the RFU, the RFL and the PGA, Steven has also sat as a disciplinary officer for British Gymnastics, British Cycling and England Boxing. He has represented participants seeking to overturn disciplinary sanctions through arbitral proceedings, and represented governing bodies before the Courts when resisting such challenges. Recent cases include:

Representing the RFU at the disciplinary hearing where an England international was found to have made homophobic remarks during the course of the game.
Representing a governing body in a ‘tapping-up’ case where both the agent and the approaching club were found to have acted in breach of the sports regulations.
Representing an English rugby union international who was cited the week before the 6 Nations Championship. If the citing was upheld, the player would have missed the Championship. The citing was dismissed, and the original yellow card rescinded.
Representing a high-profile football coach accused of having made racist comments towards players.
Representing a football club charged by the FA with failing to control their players in circumstances where they were alleged to have racially abused their opponents during a match. The club was cleared before an FA disciplinary panel of any wrongdoing.
Representing the EFL to assist with prosecuting numerous breaches of the EFL Regulations, including charges that led to Clubs being relegated from the Football League.
Represented a footballer who assaulted a referee. In doing so, Steven managed to have his ban reduced by 50%.
Advising an owner who was banned from all football related activity as he challenged the sanction through the Rule K arbitration.
Represented a professional footballer accused of match-fixing/manipulation.
Representing a golfer who was called before the PGA Disciplinary Committee for discriminatory misconduct.

Discrimination in Sport

Steven has a great deal of experience of cases involving discrimination in a sporting context. He represents participants at all levels, from those who are attending their first coaching session through to elite athletes who have suffered loss of funding or career damage because of discrimination. He also advises service providers (e.g. clubs, governing bodies, venues) as to their duties under the Equality Act 2010. Examples of his work include:

Representing a talented tennis player in a claim alleging discrimination, harassment and victimisation against the Lawn Tennis Association. The player alleged that the LTA’s actions had caused career long losses exceeding £120 million.
Advising a Paralympian who had been subjected to harassment by the governing body of his sport.
Advising a disabled supporters’ group seeking to challenge a Premier League Club’s compliance with its duty to make reasonable adjustments and failure to comply with the Accessible Stadia guidance issued by the Sports Grounds Safety Authority.
Representing a child who was excluded from a sports club because of his disability.

Player/Participants Contracts and Transfers

Agents, players and clubs regularly instruct Steven to consider issues surrounding employment/funding contracts. He also provides guidance on legal issues that arise during transfers and representation in breach of contract claims. Some of his recent cases include:

Representing a Premier League football club in a £multi-million claim brought before the Professional Football Compensation Committee relating to the poaching of a talented youth player.
Representing 3 professional footballers who successfully terminated their contracts due to persistent late payment of their wages.
Representing an England international rugby player in his claim against his former club for breach of contract following the imposition of a salary reduction.
Representing a football club in 6 claims presented by its former manager and coaches for breach of contract.
Advising a football scout accused of conspiracy, including a breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duties in a claim for in excess of £4 million.
Successfully recovered 4 weeks’ wages for a footballer subject to disciplinary proceedings.
Assisting a football coach to secure a high value exit package from a Premier League football club.
Representing 43 ex-players and staff dismissed by a professional rugby league team.
Advising 3 professional athletes who were subject to disciplinary proceedings following drugs-related allegations.
Advising senior coaches/executives on their exit packages.
Representing a professional rugby club in a breach of contract claim pursued by their former first-team coach.
Advising a professional football club on player contracts arising from amendments to the FIFA Regulations.
Representing a football player before the Player Related Dispute Commission in an appeal against dismissal following him being charged with a criminal offence.
Advising a professional football coach as to whether his media work could amount to a breach of his contract of employment.
Advising on the contractual status of a professional golfer.

Sale and Purchase of Clubs/Sporting Venues

Given Steven’s commercial law background and sports sector experience, he is positioned to advise on issues relating to the sale and purchase of sports clubs and venues. His work has included drafting an agreement for use in a £100 million deal. Some of the work he has done includes:

Being instructed by the sellers of a Premier League club to advise on the terms of sale and advise on the content the proposed Share Purchase Agreement.
Representing the owners of a football club in a £20 million plus unfair prejudice claim presented by a fans’ group.
Advising a ‘fans group’ on their buy-out of a football club in administration. This included advising on the purchase of items that vested with the Crown; drafting a new constitution; and providing guidance on the terms and conditions of player contracts.
Dealing with a minority shareholder dispute in relation to the ownership of a race course.

Sponsorship/Image Rights

Steven has a particular interest in sponsorship and image rights agreements. He has been instructed by numerous agents, clubs, participants and sponsors to assist with the negotiating and drafting of such agreements and advise and represent them when such agreements breakdown. Recent examples of his work in this area include:

Advising a French international football player on his image rights agreement and its interaction with the Premier League contract and other global sponsorship agreements.
Advising a football club in circumstances where their sponsors sought to exert influence over the club’s transfer policy.
Representing a sponsor in a claim against a Super League team for failure to provide services detailed in the sponsorship agreement.
Advising commercial enterprises on the use of player image rights (soft IP).
Representing a sponsor who sought to terminate their contract with a football club and seek damages in circumstances where the club’s conduct had caused the sponsor reputational damage.
Providing guidance to agents on how to arrange sponsorship deals so as to maximise the value of their players’ image rights across multiple global regions.

Arbitration

Steven also offers his service as an arbitrator in sporting disputes. This includes both sitting as a sole arbitrator or as a member of a panel. Steven has particular experience in arbitrations that involve contractual and employment issues in a sporting context, as well as challenges to the decisions of governing bodies. He is a member of the Sport Resolutions Panel of Arbitrators.

Steven’s work also involves him representing participants before disciplinary and appeals panels, as well in court and at arbitration. This has included Rule K arbitration, the EFL Player Related Dispute Commission, the British Boxing Board of Control Regulation 24 arbitration and referrals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. In recent years Steven has been appointed by British Gymnastics, British Cycling and England Boxing to sit on their disciplinary/appeals panels.

Memberships

British Association for Sport and Law

The British Irish Commercial Bar Association

Appointments

Visiting Sports Law Fellow at the Centre for Sports Law Research, Edge Hill University

England Boxing Disciplinary Panel Member

Sports Resolutions' Arbitration Panel Member