Interview with a sports lawyer. Part 2. Lucio Mazzei

Today we have a conversation with the international sports lawyer from Italy, a graduate of the master’s degree in International Sports Law ISDE and Co-founder Sports Talks at Calle Serrano – Lucio Mazzei (LinkedIn).

– Hello, Lucio! Please tell us a little about yourself. Why did you choose this particular area of law?

Hello and thank you so much for inviting me to this interview for your channel.

Since when I was studying at the University Bocconi in Milan, I wondered how I could combine my passion for law with the one for Sports. There was no Sports Law Course at that time at my university, but I decided to write a thesis titled “The professional footballer’s contract” which allowed me to focus on this special area of law. I enjoyed so much studying this field of law (actually I’ve fallen in love) that after my graduation I attended to the Postgraduate Course of Specialization in Sports Law and Sports Justice “Colantuoni” held by Università Statale di Milano which later brought me to work for the Italian Football Association (FIGC)

– You worked for the Italian Football Association in Rome and now you are a lawyer at the law firm. Could you compare them and enumerate the advantages and disadvantages? Which one did you like more?

Well… good question!! There are many many differences!

In FIGC I worked as a prosecutor for Procura Federale so my work consisted of supporting the Federal Prosecutors in the preparation of preliminary disciplinary proceedings, assisting to the hearings at National Federal Tribunal and at Federal Court of Appeal and giving legal advice and juridical consultancy for the activities of Procura Figc and also Collaborating with the administrative office for sending deferrals or dismissals.

It was a great experience and it was an honour and a privilege for me working in the most important Italian football institution. There was a fantastic environment and I could learn a lot from a lot of experienced lawyers.

Then I have been working for 3 sports law firms: in Montevideo, Milan and Madrid and I must admit that I prefer working in a law firm because you can face different challenges every week as you have more varied work. You have to consider that in the same week for example you have to deal with matters related to the legal assistance of agents, intermediaries, clubs, or associations... so there is always something new to learn. Probably working in a law firm is more stressful but at the same time more fascinating in my opinion as it is not a repetitive job at all...

– Who is your favourite sports lawyer in the world and why?

Aaah… it’s hard to answer this question as I was lucky enough to have most of the best sports lawyers as professors.

I have been working in Uruguay with Horacio Gonzalez Mullin, one of the most recognized sports lawyers in South America and he is the first one I want to mention because he taught me a lot about sports law, and we have a special friendship since then. I cannot forget how he helped me and made me feel at home since the first day in Montevideo as I came from the other part of the world.

Then I have been working also with Pierfilippo Capello, Andrea Bozza, and Reyes Bellver and I also learned a lot from all of them and I also have a great relationship with all of them.

Being Italian then I must mention also Desiree Ornella Bellia, Stefano Malvestio, and Jacques Blondin, young brilliant international sports lawyers who are an inspiration for me.

– Which books exist in your must-read list related to the sports law?

In my opinion, the bible of sports law has been recently published and it is the book “Transfers of football players: a practical approach to implementing FIFA Rules” edited by Prof. Michele Colucci and Desiree Ornella Bellia.

A must-read for all the sports lawyers all over the world! http://www.sportslawandpolicycentre.com/BULLETIN%201_2020_FLYER.pdf

– You are the Co-founder of Sports Talks at Calle Serrano (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCYJH3StJKnM5BLIVr4-vdVw). Could you describe this project?

Sure! During the quarantine Andre Gribel, a Brazilian sports lawyer currently based in Lisbon and I decided to take advantage of the lockdown for creating a new channel that could focus not only on sports law but also on sports business, sports management, and sports marketing.

I must admit that this project was successful as we already organized 12 webinars with some of the most famous sports lawyers in the world and It helped us to make a lot of connections all over the world and also to learn a lot of new things from the speakers.

For example, I didn’t know anything about Sports Law in Asia, in Africa, CAF, and AFC, and interviewing our guests allowed me to extend a lot my knowledge.

Moreover, we have a lot of exciting projects for our “Sports Talks at Calle Serrano” channel and hopefully, we are going to professionalize it more and more since September.

– Is it possible to find a job only as a sports lawyer in Italy and Spain, or should it always be parallel with other branches of law?

That’s also a very interesting question: I don’t know if I am the best person to answer it but for sure Spain and Italy are two of the countries where sports law is more popular and diffused.

To be honest, it is always more difficult to find opportunities in sports law firms as the number of masters is increasing while the number of the specialized law firms is more or less the same as before but of course the excellent and hard-working people will always find a way to break into this business.

– What advice would you share with our readers?

The first suggestion I would like to give your readers is that it is indispensable to attend to an International Sports Law Master for entering this world: it is the only way to have the opportunity to do an internship in specialized sports law firms, clubs or associations and then if you work hard and give it your best you will always get a chance to be hired.

Another “tip” is not focusing only on football because there are many sports with many federations/associations that need legal advice and there could be more opportunities in these areas as well as specializing on eSports which is the business of the future.

Then, if you want to open your own law firm or to work in an international law firm with a sports law department you have to focus also on civil and labour law which represent the basis of sports law: your profile could be much more appealing for a law firm, especially if big if you are not only competent on sports law but also on other fields as you can help them in more practices.

Last but not least, it is very important to build relationships with all the people working in sports law attending to conferences, congresses, seminars and also through LinkedIn which is a very helpful tool for “networking” as well as writing articles for sports law journals/reviews such as Lawinsport, Football Legal, Asser International Sports Law Blog, Lex Sportiva, Olympialex and many others… and why not!? taking part as speakers to the future Sports Talks at Calle Serrano webinars.

– We would like to express our gratitude for answering the questions. We wish you all of the successes in the future!

The pleasure was all mine. Thank you once again for inviting me. Best of luck for your channel!

We wish you a wonderful weekend!

Your International Sports Law:)