Tennis lawyer in Belgium
Tennis is an individual sport, in law as well
A tennis player usually has no employer. You compete on your own account, you pay your coach and your travel, and you carry the risk of everything you sign. The structure other athletes receive through a club, you build yourself in tennis: a coaching agreement, a management contract, sponsorship terms and a sound tax and social position. We advise players, parents of junior players, coaches, academies, tournament organisers and federations.
Tennis is international from the first season. You play under the rules of the ITF, the ATP or the WTA, you train abroad and you earn prize money in several countries. Alongside Tennis Vlaanderen, the AFT and the Royal Belgian Tennis Federation, you deal with international bodies, with the International Tennis Integrity Agency and, on final appeal, with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS/TAS) in Lausanne. Everest Sports Law handles Belgian and international files.
What we handle for tennis clients
These are the files that come back most often in tennis.
Coaching and support agreements
We draft and negotiate contracts between a player and a coach, a fitness trainer or an academy. The points that matter are the term, the fee, the share in prize money, the cost of travel and tournaments, and how each party can end the cooperation.
Management and player representation
A management contract sets out who represents you, for which markets, at what commission and for how long. We review those contracts before you sign, we negotiate exclusivity and notice, and we act when a cooperation with an agency goes wrong.
Sponsorship and image rights
We negotiate sponsorship contracts for players, tournaments and brands: exclusivity per product category, clothing and equipment obligations, performance bonuses and the use of name and image. We also arrange image rights for photo shoots, documentaries and social media.
Prize money and cross-border tax
Prize money is often taxed in the country of the tournament and then again in Belgium. We look at your status, the double tax treaties, the withholding tax on prize money and sponsorship income, and the consequences of a move abroad.
Selection, wildcards and entry
A refused wildcard, a non-selection for a national team or exclusion from a tournament is a decision you can challenge. We test the procedure, the reasons given and the applicable rules, and we file the right appeal in time.
Integrity, match-fixing and doping
An investigation by the International Tennis Integrity Agency or a case under the Tennis Anti-Doping Programme puts your career at stake. We assist you from the first request for information, through the interview and before the disciplinary body.
How a tennis lawyer in Belgium runs your file
Who decides
Contract disputes go to the ordinary courts or to arbitration, depending on what your contract says. Disciplinary and integrity cases are heard first within the federation or the competent body. On final appeal you often end up before the CAS/TAS in Lausanne.
Which deadlines run
Sports regulations work with short deadlines. An appeal to an international body or to the CAS/TAS usually has to be filed within a few weeks, sometimes within days. A provisional suspension keeps running meanwhile. Do not wait until after the tournament.
What to do first
Collect everything: the regulations, the decision, the contracts, the emails and the messages. Do not answer an investigator’s questionnaire before you have legal advice. Call or email us with the date of the decision, and we set the deadline together.
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