From June 25 to June 26, 2015, a the first “Dacheng” International Sports Law Conference, which lasted two days and was organized and hosted by Dacheng’s Beijing-based attorney Liu Chi, was successfully held.

This conference was hosted by Dacheng and Court of Arbitration for Sport (“CAS”), and supported by Chinese Football Association (“CFA”) and China International Economic and Trade and Arbitration Commission (“CIETAC”). Liu is an arbitrator with CAS, and serves at International Federation of Association Football (“FIFA”), International Federation of Association Basketball (“FIBA”) and International Federation of Association Volleyball (“FIVA”). Invited and coordinated by Liu, the world’s top sports organizations including FIFA, FIBA, Asian Football Confederation (“AFC”), NBA China, CAS and Infront Sports & Media AG (“Infront”) sent general legal counsels and senior officers to this conference.

Around the subject of the protection and application of merchandising rights in sports, this conference was divided into three sessions i.e., “foreign-related sports law”, “commercial arbitration of CAS” and “Chinese football reform”. It won great support from Policy and Regulation Department of General Administration of Sport, CFA, Chinese Basketball Association (“CBA”), the legal department of NBA China and CAS, which also sent quite a few officers and lawyers to the conference. With more than 200 participants, it is the biggest and the most pragmatic international meeting held in China so far in relation to sports law, winning praise from sports community and sports law practitioners at home and abroad.

Photograph of the guests (from left to right): Alex Haffner and Richard Barham from Dentons; Benjamin Cohen, general legal counsel of FIBA; Zhu Heyuan, general legal counsel of CFA; James Johnson, senior manager of member association of FIFA; Mathew Reid, secretary general of CAS; Omar Ungaro, head of Disciplinary and Player Status Committee of FIFA; James Kitchin, legal counsel of AFC; William Steinheimer, lawyer in chief of CAS; Jean Dubee, chief researcher of CAS; and Liu Chi, arbitrator of CAS and partner of Dacheng.

Photograph of panelists on “how to run a successful football league game” (from left to right): Liu Chi, member of the Ethics Committee of FIFA; Omar Ungaro, head of Disciplinary and Player Status Committee of FIFA; James Johnson, senior manager of member association of FIFA; Benjamin Cohen, general legal counsel of FIBA; James Kitchin, legal counsel of AFC; and Alex Haffner from Dentons.

Photograph of panelists on “the broadcasting right of sports events” (from left to right): Yun Xuan, vice president of Qualified Brand Protection Committee of China Foreign-Invested Enterprise Association; Xu Chao, associate director of Intellectual Property Right Center; Liu Kai, legal counsel of Letv; Yang Qihu, general legal counsel of Tencent; Zhang Zhe, litigation manager of Sina; and Alex Haffner from Dentons.

Photograph of an interview with Letv Sports (from left to right): Alex Haffner from Dentons; Benjamin Cohen, general legal counsel of FIBA; Liu Chi, partner of Dacheng; the host; Mathew Reid, secretary general of CAS; and Richard Barham from Dentons.