Paul J Green

Paul J Greene

Global Sports Advocates

Portland https://globalsportsadvocates.com

pgreene@globalsportsadvocates.com Tel: +1 207 747 5899

Biography

Paul J Greene, the founder of Global Sports Advocates, is recognised as one of the world’s leading sports lawyers. Paul handles sports law matters around the world, including hearings before the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne, Switzerland – the “Supreme Court for sports law”. Paul has represented athletes from more than 50 countries and more than 50 different sports. He is best known for his successful advocacy on behalf of athletes in high-profile matters.

How has your role as a sports lawyer changed since you first started practising?

My role as a sports lawyer has expanded since I first started practising. While the core of my legal practice is still advocacy, I now regularly provide policy advice to clients on best practices with an eye toward creating a more equitable and well-governed sports industry. I also teach sports law courses in various academic settings both in the US and abroad.

On which types of matters have clients sought your advice in the past year?

In the past year, sports industry clients have sought my advice on anti-doping matters, contract matters, right of publicity (name, image and likeness) matters, NCAA and Olympic eligibility matters, SafeSport matters, sports governance/policy matters, team selection matters, code of conduct matters and sports injury matters.

The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) has recently amended its rules allowing college athletes to monetise their name, image and likeness. What can you tell us about this rule change and its implications?

As of 1 July 2021, US college athletes can be sponsored and receive payment without jeopardising their NCAA eligibility. US college athletes can now appear at autograph shows, promote products, make personal appearances, and monetise their social media accounts. This development is a seismic change to the collegiate sports landscape in the US and the full scope of its implications may not be understood for years to come. To what extent has the new 2021 World Anti-Doping Code’s approach towards “substances of abuse” affected the work you are receiving in this area?

The newly enacted “substances of abuse” category permits a sanction as low as one month for an athlete who uses cocaine, marijuana, ecstasy or heroin. This is a significant change to the anti-doping sanctioning regime, particularly for the use of cocaine, which previously mandated a minimum 12-month ban for intentional use. This new approach has greatly affected the anti-doping cases I have handled involving cocaine and marijuana in 2021, since the focus has rightly shifted toward providing the athlete with needed rehabilitation resources rather than a punitive approach that focused on punishment even though cocaine and marijuana do not provide any performance enhancing benefit. I would like to see WADA go further and remove these substances, particularly marijuana, from the list of banned substances altogether. The UFC and all US professional sports leagues have already taken this step.

An increasingly hot topic in the anti-doping space is food contamination. What impact is this trend having on sports practice?

Testing labs today can detect banned substances present in the body in “picogram” (a trillionth of a gram) amounts that are so incredibly low they could never have any impact on athletic performance. Since environmental contaminants regularly make their way into the body at these low levels, the proper approach to food contamination has become a hotly debated issue in the anti-doping space. Food contamination cases are exceedingly difficult since athletes must prove that food or water consumed months ago was the source of the banned substance, which can be nearly impossible to do. As a response, thresholds are now being adopted for many banned substances, like the growth promoting hormones used on beef cattle.

This is a sensible policy change by antidoping regulators that acknowledges there are limits to a zero-tolerance system that can ensnare innocent athletes and wrongly sanction them.

How has covid-19 and the global vaccine rollout impacted the sports industry?

Covid-19 and the global vaccine rollout has massively impacted the sports industry over the past two years. As we head into 2022, many fans are required to show proof of vaccine before being permitted to attend games. Players are also required to be vaccinated in many settings. Let’s hope that 2022 leads to a return to normalcy.

What advice would you give to someone looking to set up their own firm?

I would advise anyone looking to set up their own firm to focus on (1) creating genuine relationships with their clients and (2) providing the best possible representation for each client. This is a worthy foundation for any law firm.

You have enjoyed a very distinguished career so far. What would you like to achieve that you have not yet accomplished?

To date, I have represented athletes in more than 50 countries. I would like to grow this number in the years ahead. Hopefully, one day soon I can say I have represented athletes in more than 100 countries.

Peers and clients say: “He is one of the best in the country” “Paul provides firm but fair written and oral advocacy, and is very easy to work with”