News archive 2024

BAT hosts Webinar for the Introduction of the Payment Order Procedure (POP)

On 13 February 2023, the Secretariat of the Basketball Arbitral Tribunal (BAT) hosted a webinar for BAT users  and other interested parties in order to introduce the new BAT Payment Order Procedure (POP).
More than 200 participants attended the webinar during which David Menz, Deputy Head of BAT Case Management, explained the functioning of the POP as well as the associated BAT rules and answered questions by the participants regarding the procedure. The high number of participants as well as their active participation in the webinar shows the great interest of the basketball community in this new mechanism for resolving financial disputes. The BAT is convinced that the POP will further promote the fast, simple and cost-efficient resolution of financial disputes in the world of basketball.

David Menz, Dr Tinusch Jalilvand and Juliane Schneider publish article on “Greenwashing” in sport in SpoPrax

Greenwashing in sport? This accusation has been increasingly levelled at clubs and associations in recent years. In their article in SpoPrax 1/24, David Menz, Dr Tinusch Jalilvand and Juliane Schneider shed light on the legal framework that underpins, but can also refute, the accusation of unfair representations of one's own environmental performance. The topic will continue to gain in importance, particularly as a result of the planned (and in some cases already adopted) regulation of "green claims" at European level. Stakeholders in the world of sport should therefore carefully consider whether and how they go public with environmental claims about their own activities.

Heiner Kahlert, David Menz and Maximilian Wegge once again listed in the “Who’s Who Legal Germany Report 2024 (hosted by Lexology)”

We are thrilled that Heiner Kahlert, David Menz und Maximilian Wegge have once again been listed as considered leaders in their field in the “Who's Who Legal Germany Report 2024 (hosted by Lexology)” in the category “Sports and Entertainment 2024”. A huge thank you goes out to all the clients and peers who have voted for us. We see this award as an incentive to continue supporting our clients with enthusiasm and dedication.

BAT introduces Payment Order Procedure (POP)

With the new edition of its arbitration rules (which enter into force on 1 February 2024), the Basketball Arbitral Tribunal (BAT) introduces the new Payment Order Procedure (POP). The POP is comparable to default judgements before state courts (e.g. the European order for payment procedure) and is arguably the first of its kind in the context of international (sports) arbitration.
This procedure provides for the BAT to issue a payment order for a monetary claim at a claimant's request without examining the merits of the claim if some basic requirements are fulfilled and the claim is not contested by the respondent. The final payment order shall have the effects of a final and binding arbitral award between the parties and qualifies as “decision” in the terms of Article 3-335 of the FIBA Internal Regulations. For further information on the POP, please click here.

Dr. Heiner Kahlert appointed as new co-editor of SpuRt

Dr. Heiner Kahlert has been appointed as one of the eight new editors for the German sports law journal "Zeitschrift für Sport und Recht" (SpuRt). SpuRt has been providing its readership with case law and academic articles on sports law since 1994 and has earned an excellent reputation in both academia and practice. Together with the other editors, Dr. Heiner Kahlert will ensure that SpuRt continues to meet the highest quality standards in the future.

Dr Tinusch Jalilvand takes a look at the special challenges of the DOSB’s planned Olympic bid

Dr Tinusch Jalilvand, our sustainability and human rights expert, takes a look at the particular challenges of the DOSB's planned Olympic bid from his specialist perspective in the latest Nomos Praxis newsletter on sports law. This is a highly topical issue that fundamentally affects all organisers of sporting events. For the article in the Nomos Praxis-Newsletter in German, please click here.

Support for the Nowitzki Foundation

As in the previous years, our law firm has again supported the fabulous work of the Dirk Nowitzki Foundation by way of a donation at the end of 2023. The foundation was created by the former NBA superstar and German national basketball team player Dirk Nowitzki. For many years now, it has helped kids and adolescents to recognise and develop their potential through sport and also outside sport. This type of social commitment is particularly close to our hearts and we are pleased that we were once again able to make a financial contribution to it.

NJW Report on the Development of Sports Law in 2023

David Menz und Dr. Heiner Kahlert published a report on the development of sports law in 2023 in the Neue Juristische Wochenschrift (NJW – 46/2023 edition, p. 3337 et seq.). The report picks up where the report for 2022 (NJW – 46/2022 edition, pp. 3334 et seq.) left off and provides an overview of relevant decisions from various legal fields affected by sports law.

David Menz and Paul Fischer publish contributions in the KeywordCommentary “eSports Law”

David Menz and Paul Fischer were allowed to contribute the following keywords for the first keyword commentary on eSports law:
  • Arbitration in eSports (David Menz with co-author Alexander Engelhard)
  • Sports associations in general (Paul Fischer)
  • Associations in general (Paul Fischer with co-authors Tim Bagger von Grafenstein and Tobias Scholz)
  • Jurisdiction of Associations (Paul Fischer)
  • Constitution (Paul Fischer)
In their respective contributions, David Menz and Paul Fischer look at eSports from the perspective of traditional sports. The focus is on how eSport can best benefit from the experiences of traditional sport in the respective areas. The StichwortKommentar "eSport-Recht" is the first port of call for legal advice on eSports law, but especially for those involved in the eSports scene itself - be they game manufacturers, publishers and eSports players, teams and clans, organisers, sponsors, associations or investors. To purchase the keyword commentary (in German), please click here.

Dr Heiner Kahlert and Maximilian Wegge published report on online platform “Lexology”

Dr Heiner Kahlert and Maximilian Wegge  have contributed also in 2023 to the chapter on dispute resolution in Germany on the online platform "Lexology" The report will be part of the tool "Getting The Deal Through", which shall provide in-house lawyers with answers to the most important legal and regulatory questions that may arise in business transactions and legal disputes in Germany. The report focuses on the topics of court proceedings, arbitration proceedings as well as alternative dispute resolution.
We are pleased to be in charge of submitting further contributions to the chapter on dispute resolution for at least one more year. For the report, which is published once a year, please click here. (Reproduced with permission from Law Business Research Ltd. This article was first published in Lexology GTDT – Dispute Resolution 2023. For further information, please click here.)  

BAT reaches milestone of 2000 cases

We are delighted to announce that the Basketball Arbitral Tribunal (BAT) has just reached the milestone of a total of 2000 cases since its creation in 2007.
Our firm created the BAT at the behest of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and has been administering all BAT arbitrations ever since. The BAT is widely acknowledged as a highly innovative court of arbitration that has changed the landscape of dispute resolution in sport. Its success is underlined by the fact that despite BAT arbitration being entirely voluntary, and despite BAT proceedings being limited to financial disputes in basketball, its caseload arguably makes the BAT the second-biggest arbitral tribunal in sports world-wide. In recent years, the average number of cases per year was approximately 160. We are looking forward to many more years of BAT arbitration, and will do our best to help continuously improving this dispute resolution system for the benefit of its users.

Dr Heiner Kahlert publishes Article on the Basketball Arbitral Tribunal (BAT)

Dr Heiner Kahlert and Benjamin Schindler of the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) have published an article in the French professional journal jurisport (La Revue Juridique et Economique du Sport). The article first provides an overview of the functioning of the Basketball Arbitral Tribunal (BAT). It further describes the mechanism by which FIBA helps the prevailing party before the BAT to ensure compliance with the BAT's decision. The French article can be downloaded here.

Welcome back, Dr Paul Fischer!

We are very pleased to welcome Dr Paul Fischer as our new and at the same time old colleague at Martens Rechtsanwaelte. Paul joins us as a Salary Partner, returning to his old workplace after just over three years.
Paul is a great asset to our team and our clients, being a great colleague with particular expertise in association law, advising national and international sports federations, data protection law as well as litigation and arbitration in sports. We look forward to working together with joy, confidence and a lot of energy! #Martens #Sports law #Sportslaw #Association law #Litigation #Arbitration

Dr Tinusch Jalilvand and David Menz publish article about the “IOC Strategic Framework on Human Rights” in SpoPrax

Dr Tinusch Jalilvand and David Menz published an article about the “IOC Strategic Framework on Human Rights” in SpoPrax 2/2023. In their article the authors deal with the consequences of IOC’s and FIFA’s commitment to Human Rights for other sports federations. In essence the authors recommend to all sports federations to develop concepts for the protection of Human Rights which are not only consisting of empty phrases but are based on actual risks of Human Rights violations caused by or contributed to by sports federations
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