Supported by the Socio-Legal Studies Association, the Institute of Sport, and the Future Economies Research Centre, the Manchester Law School is pleased to host this one-day conference discussing key issues in sport, including gender equity, concussion protocols, and financial regulation. Go to the conference webpage to reserve a spot. Attendance is free.
Agenda
10:30 – 11:00 Registration and Coffee
11:00 – 11:30 Welcome Talk
Professor Mark James (MMU Director of Research in Law)
Professor Andrew Francis (Head of Manchester Law School)
11:30 – 13:00 Panel 1 – Financial Regulation and Taxation Issues
Dr Sarah Carrick
Panel Chair: Dr Carrick is a Lecturer in Law at Manchester Law School. Her research focuses on image rights of athletes and the taxation issues which stem from this, as well as equal pay in sport.
Speakers
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Dr Gareth Farrelly: Dr Farrelly is a Senior Associate at Bermans law firm based in Liverpool. He is also a former professional footballer who played for Aston Villa, Everton, and Bolton Wanderers in the Premier League. After retirement from professional football Farrelly returned to education and qualified as a solicitor in 2018. Farrelly is a member of the Football Association’s Judicial Panel and sits on both the Chairman’s Panel and the Football Panel. He is a member of Sports Resolutions’ Independent Panel of Arbitrators and Mediators. He was a Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) Arbitrator and is a member of the Premier League Judicial Panel.
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Dr Dan Plumley: Dr Plumley is a Senior Lecturer at Sheffield Hallam University. His expertise are in the finance, economics, and governance of professional team sports. His PhD focused on measuring financial and sporting performance in English professional football. Dr Plumley regularly to numerous media discussing the finances of football with local, national and international media outlets including corporations such as the BBC and Sky News.
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Peter Duncan: Peter is an ESRC-funded PhD Criminology candidate and teaching assistant at The University of Manchester researching variably illicit tax minimisation in UK professional football.
13:00 – 14:00 Lunch (provided for free – indicate dietary requirements when registering)
14:00 – 15:30 Panel 2 – Gender Equity in Sport
Dr Kay Lalor
Panel Chair: Dr Lalor is Reader in Human Rights Law at Manchester Law School. Her work explores the growth of LGBTQI+ rights activism in international legal arenas, with a focus on how legally informed activism is translated into non- and quasi-legal projects, and what this means for the development of human rights theory, law, and practice.
Speakers
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Dr Alex Culvin: Dr Culvin works in policy and strategic relations at FIFPRO, which is the global union for professional football players, where she advocates for gender equity in sport. Alex is also a visiting academic at Leeds Beckett University. Alex herself is a former professional footballer, having played for clubs including Liverpool, AZ Alkmaar, Leeds and Everton.
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Dr Eleanor Drywood: Dr Drywood is a senior lecturer at the University of Liverpool Law School. Eleanor has considerable expertise in sports law, looking at vulnerable participants. Her research focuses on the application of a children’s rights perspective to sports law. She has particular interests in migration, child footballers and professional football.
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Dr Nicolas Scelles: Dr Scelles is a Senior Lecturer at Manchester Metropolitan University within the Sports Management School. Dr Scelles achieved his PhD in Sports Economics from the Faculty of Sport Sciences, University of Caen, France in 2009. His research focuses on the economics of professional football, with his expertise more specifically looking at competitive balance and intensity.
15:30 – 15:45 Refreshment Break
15:45 – 17:15 Panel 3 – Concussion Protocols in Sport
Professor Mark James
Panel Chair: Professor James is the Director of Research in Manchester Law School. He is one of the country’s leading experts on sports law and Olympic law.
Speakers
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Prof William Stewart: Prof Stewart is Consultant Neuropathologist at the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital, Glasgow, and holds Honorary Professor status at the University of Glasgow (School of Psychology and Neurosceince) and the University of Pennsylvania (Department of Neurosurgery). Prof Stewart leads an internationally regarded research laboratory engaged in multiple programs investigating the pathologies of acute and long-term survival from traumatic brain injury (TBI).”
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Dr David McArdle: Dr McArdle is a Senior Lecturer at Stirling University Law School. Dr McArdle’s work regarding sport and its relationship with the law is globally recognised, including pregnancy discrimination in US college sports and match-fixing. His work on the legal and ethical responses to concussion in sport have been examined by the Parliamentary committee on ‘Concussion in Sport,’ making him an expert in this field.
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Dr James Brown: Dr Brown is a lecturer and early career research at Manchester Law School. He achieved his PhD in 2022 from the University of Sheffield, which focused on vicarious liability in sport. Dr Brown’s research focuses on negligence in sport and the various potential defendants arising from a successful claim.
17:15 – 17:30 Closing Comments and Thoughts
