
Alex Haffner
Alex is a Partner in the Commercial, Sports and IP Team at Fladgate LLP, specialising in the sports, technology and media sectors.
Alex's first involvement in sports related work was as part of the legal team which helped the FA Premier League defend its collective media rights selling arrangements before the UK and EU competition authorities and ultimately negotiated a landmark settlement with the EU Commission in order to end its long running investigations of FAPL.
He has since acted for a number of other rights holders including the England and Wales Cricket Board, Scottish Premier League, the Football League and leading English and Scottish football clubs on issues related to the exploitation of their media rights. Alex represented the Football League in its intervention before the Competition Appeal Tribunal concerning the successful appeal by Sky and FAPL of Ofcom's decision to impose "must wholesale" obligations on Sky Sports. He is also very active on the International market for sports, particularly in China and the Middle East.
Aside from media rights related issues, Alex's practice also includes acting for sports bodies on regulatory matters relating to the grant and enforcement of sanctions on clubs and players, as well as more general issues concerning the interface between UK and EU competition law and sport.
Alex has written extensively for various sports, media and competition law publications and been quoted on many occasions by the national press. He has also appeared on BBC News, Radio 4 and Radio 5 to talk about legal issues affecting the world of sport.
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Broadcasting 'Listed' sports events in the UK: what changes on the horizon?
Published Monday, 03 February 2020.
Sailing into choppy waters? World Sailing under the competition law microscope
Published Wednesday, 06 February 2019.
The legal issues facing Liberty Media’s new “over-the-top” proposals for streaming Formula 1
Published Thursday, 19 April 2018.
Why the International Skating Union was found in breach of EU competition law
Published Wednesday, 17 January 2018.
Copyright protections prevent publicans using foreign decoders to show Premier League matches: Luxton case review
Published Friday, 25 November 2016.
The law on banning athletes from competing in rival sports leagues
Published Wednesday, 05 October 2016.
What Ofcom’s settlement with the Premier League means for the sale of UK football broadcasting rights
Published Tuesday, 30 August 2016.
What China’s Football Reform Plan means for China and the global sports industry
Published Wednesday, 22 July 2015.
A guide to the Sky v BT Sport Ofcom investigation and Competition Appeal Tribunal decision
Published Tuesday, 27 January 2015.
Will sports rights holders "on-demand" even more from broadcasters and how may contracts evolve?
Published Tuesday, 05 August 2014.
Ticketing terms under scrutiny as UEFA face defeat in Poland over “abusive” EURO 2012 policy
Published Tuesday, 15 July 2014.
BT takes Ofcom case to extra time (back) at the Competition Appeal Tribunal
Published Monday, 03 March 2014.
Ashes on Pick TV: The shape of things to come for List B protected sports events
Published Tuesday, 03 December 2013.
Competition authorities raise the umpire’s finger against the BCCI
Published Friday, 03 May 2013.
UK 1 FIFA & UEFA 0: UK free to decide which sporting events are free-to-air
Published Thursday, 20 December 2012.
Listed Events and free-to-air TV: have the Aussies got anything right that we haven’t?
Published Friday, 19 October 2012.