Interview with a sports lawyer. Victor Targino de Araujo

Interview with the sports lawyer from Brazil, Sports Lawyer & Gaming Law Specialist of the GGAC-Gabriella Garcia Advocacia e Consultoria, and Netshoes Miners eSport Team, ISDE alumnus – Victor Targino de Araujo.

– Dear Victor, I am extremely happy to do this interview, to ask you about your sports law background and to find out your advice to the sports lawyers. Let’s get started. Could you tell me please a little bit about your education in the sports law field?

– Dear Valeryia, I really appreciate your invitation. It is such a pleasure. About my education, as I’ve always been a fan of sports in general (football, basketball, tennis, motorsport, etc), my goal was to graduate in a field that I could make the sport a relevant part of my life and work. So, when I entered law school, I was already focused on involving my studies with sports. Therefore, I took part in Sports Law class in the University, which was not mandatory, and after my graduation in Law (which is a 5-year term course in Brazil), in December 2012, I decided to do a postgraduation degree specific in Sports Law, of more 18 months. I also enrolled for membership in the Brazilian Institute of Sports Law focusing on their courses and lectures. Later, in 2018, I did a Master’s degree in Sports Management and Legal Skills in ISDE (part online, part in Barcelona, Spain).

– How do you assess the sports law development in Brazil? Do you have a Master’s program dedicated to sports law at Brazilian universities?

– Sports Law in Brazil is still underdeveloped in comparison with the market needs. There are few courses, institutions, and professionals really dedicated to the Sports Law field, thus lacking specialists to supply the demand in its fullness. In Brazil, the higher education after university graduation is generally divided into “lato sensu” (specialization or post-graduation, LL.M, MBA – all of the same ranking) and “stricto sensu” (academic “master”, professional “master”, and Ph.D – the latter with higher ranking). The main difference between them is the minimum time and the amount of research required to produce the final thesis (lato is 6 to 18 months; stricto is 2 to 4 years). Generally, a Master’s degree obtained outside Brazil would have the same ranking as a “lato sensu” degree, admitting exceptions depending on the amount of time and research involved to obtain the diploma. In the field of Sports Law, there are kind of 15 courses lato sensu nationwide, which are eventually offered as Specialization, Post-Graduation or MBA in Sports Law, and around of 2 (two) courses stricto sensu – “Mestrado em Direito Desportivo” –, of 2 years.

– You are working a lot with e-sports. What could you tell about this field? What questions usually arise in this area?

– As a consequence of the Brazilian sports environment and culture, the first role for a sports lawyer, usually was around Football, which is a passion countrywide, assisting Football Clubs (some of them also develop other sports), Agents, Athletes, or the Football Federations. Eventually, some lawyers or students could find work or internships in other sports, essentially Basketball, Volleyball, Futsal, or enrolled in Brazilian Olympic and Paralympic committees and their related federations. A few others would focus or advise on Disciplinary matters (as Disciplinary Sports Courts and Doping). This was the panorama to the students and professionals interested in Sports Law before eSport, which emerged in the last decade as a major segment to absorb Sports Law professionals and students, with a large potential to have a higher demand in comparison with many of the above-mentioned traditional sports.

This happens because of the crescent audience (which relies upon the youngest populations sectors), great income of investments, and ever-growing media attention. Allied with the specialization required to properly develop work within the sports industry (which has a specific law in Brazil and many, many specific regulations), eSport proves to be a fertile field to give an opportunity to specialized professionals (as external advisors or in-house lawyers) and to many of students (internships) interested in Sports Law, serving to boost the courses and researches related to. Particularly, in my case, I did move from Football to eSport, as my previous experience with Corinthians and Santos proved to be valuable to the eSport organization I work for in many aspects, since from discussing and drafting specific contracts (transfer agreements, player contracts – work and image rights –, league contract, sponsorships, etc), to daily tasks, as legally advising in the operations and in the relations between head of sports, managers, athletes, staff and the board of directors. Though, very similar to the work expected from an in-house Lawyer of a Football Club or Federation, for example.

Regarding the questions involving eSports, in Brazil, nowadays:

(i) its legal status is still discussed (but there is major consensus in the doctrine that eSport in a sport, thus the existing sports legislation, despite being outdated, is applicable to the sector),

(ii) there is no specific treatment in the law to protect the athletes (who also stream) towards streaming platforms (e.g. dispute resolution and limitations),

(iii) there is a concern around “gaming houses” and minor exploitation (Brazil is such a big country and many young players have to move away from their families and education to pursue their dream to be an eSport athlete, therefore being submitted to exhaustive work hours, in absence of their parents and a proper education), and

(iv) the toxicity or misbehavior (especially against women) culturally rooted in some gaming communities, easily expressed via social media or forums lacking any control or viable measures of prevention and sanction, which eventually can contaminate some of the players and people involved in the organizations, or negatively affect them and their image.

– What are your favorite books and/or movies related to sports law?

– Books:

(i) The Business of Sports, by Scott Rosner and Kenneth L. Shropshire;

(ii) La Pelota no Entra por Azar, by Ferrán Soriano (Goal: The Ball Doesn’t Go In By Chance).

– Movies (more sport than law):

(i) Moneyball;

(ii) I, Tonya;

(iii) The Last Dance.

– What advice would you give to our readers and young sports lawyers?

– Pursuit specialization and focus to understand the details inside the business and its stakeholders related to the modality you are interested in or expect to work for. Speak and connect to people which already work in the field. Don’t miss any event or lecture involving sports law that you are able to visit, online or not. You shall ally your studies with networking. Sports business is global, don’t forget to improve your English and any other language that you feel comfortable with (or the language which represents the broader market closer to your home country) as earlier as possible. The goal is to have the sport occupying more and more time in your work agenda, but don’t be afraid to have only a small part of your tasks related to sports law in the beginning, even if they are only on a volunteer basis. Join forces with professionals or students to promote events, studies and even do volunteer work to assist local organizations or athletes who cannot afford the costs of a specialized professional. Read Valeryia’s blog regularly ;).

– I would like to thank you for your interesting responses, advice, and motivation to learn and work in international sports law!

– It was a pleasure. Thank you very much for the opportunity. Спасибо=)