The 3rd Congress on International Football Law brought together more than 300 sports law experts to discuss some of the most pressing issues in the game today. Organised by the Spanish Football Association (RFEF) under the auspices of FIFA, the Congress featured 11 lectures given by internationally renowned speakers.

The Congress began on Friday 14 March with a speech from Angel Maria Villar Llona, the President of the RFEF and Vice-President of FIFA. "This sport is the reason why we are here today," said Villar in setting out the objective of the two-day event, namely to clarify certain grey areas in the field of football law. "Our mission is to protect football. The world is so large and diverse that football has to be governed in accordance with rules and regulations. These rules sometimes come into conflict with the laws of nations."

Mario Gallavotti, legal adviser to the Italian Football Association, then gave a paper on the protection of minors, explaining Article 19 of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players in detail. "While it is perhaps true to say that Article 19 is not very effective, as revealed by the alarming trafficking of young players, the situation would be worse if it didn't exist, as it has helped restrict an unacceptable practice," he said. "It is a growing phenomenon, the control of which that requires the commitment of national authorities, and now is the time for action." Gallavotti also went on to analyse the initiatives put forward by both UEFA and FIFA.

The lecture gave way to an interesting debate that juxtaposed the need to regulate the transfer of minors with the right to free movement. "Sports laws are not enough to halt this trend although FIFA and UEFA are fully committed to dealing with the problem and have proposed, among other measures, the creation of special national monitoring committees and a register of young players," added Gallavotti. "Leaders need to be courageous in tackling the problem for the good of football."

Javier Ferrero Munoz's paper on claims involving agents, football players and clubs provided another major talking point, generating a great amount of interest and debate among the audience, who expressed their various points of view in the Q&A session.

Saturday's sessions came to a close with an analysis of the Court of Arbitration for Sport's findings in 2008 and 2009, a summary of the conflicts arising from claims involving agents, players and clubs, the transfer negotiation process from a practical viewpoint, and the primacy of the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players over national legislation.

Theory and practice
The FIFA Regulations were under the microscope in Friday's sessions, with CAS arbitrator Michele Bernasconi and the lawyer Marcos Motta offering respective in-depth analyses of Articles 17 and 18 bis of the Regulations. In addition, Marco Villiger, FIFA's Legal Director, gave a detailed explanation of the procedure by which clubs are issued with licences.

The functions of the Players' Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber provided the subject of the lecture given by Geoff Thompson, a member of the FIFA Executive Committee, with Omar Ongano, the Head of FIFA's Player Status Department, providing a clarification of the new regulatory procedure applying to the Committee and the Chamber in the light of Circular 1148.

In bringing the Congress to a close, Villar drew attention to the increasing importance of law in the world of football, the success of this particular Congress, and the need to stage similar events in the future.