Lysaght Sports

Lysaght Sports is a boutique sports law consultancy built on senior legal expertise acquired at the highest levels of world sport.

With over a decade in senior legal roles at FIFA, the FIA, the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF), Barry Lysaght combines first-hand experience shaping global sports regulations with the legal expertise to help clients navigate them with confidence. He has helped draft and implement many of the rules that now underpin his clients’ projects, offering strategic insight that few practitioners can match.

An expert in the regulation and governance of sport, Barry's previous roles include:

• FIFA: Group Lead and Legal Counsel
• AFC: Head of Sports Legal, Disciplinary and Governance
• SAFF: General Counsel and Director of Legal and Governance Affairs

Barry has played a key advisory role in numerous landmark projects in world sport, including:

• the regulation of the global football transfer system at FIFA;
• the creation of the FIA Formula One Financial Regulations;
• Saudi Arabia’s successful bid to host the AFC Asian Cup 2027;
• the privatisation, restructuring and financial regulation of major football clubs;
• the creation of the first-ever Saudi footballers’ union; and
• the implementation of the FIFA Football Agent Regulations.

A specialist in the regulation and governance of football, Barry has led disciplinary, integrity and anti-doping programmes at major competitions such as the AFC Asian Cup and AFC Champions League; investigated and prosecuted hundreds of breaches of FIFA and AFC regulations; drafted regulations for new club competitions; and advised on wide-ranging governance and ethics reforms across federations and leagues. He now helps clients across every sport strengthen their governance, integrity and compliance frameworks to the standards applied at the top levels of world football.

With experience spanning Europe, the Middle East and Southeast Asia, Lysaght Sports brings a genuinely international outlook, supported by proficiency in five languages and legal qualifications in Ireland, England and Wales.

As a boutique firm, Lysaght Sports is agile and responsive to client needs. We frequently integrate as a trusted subject-matter expert for leading law firms and consultancies, while also directly advising federations, clubs, athletes and investors across the sporting ecosystem. Our model ensures clients have direct access to senior-level expertise without the overheads of a large firm.

We specialise in sports regulatory frameworks, ethics and governance, disciplinary and integrity matters, transfers and registrations, contractual disputes and sponsorship agreements. We provide strategic, high-level advocacy in regulatory, disciplinary and contractual disputes before the CAS and other sports judicial bodies, ensuring clients receive informed and authoritative representation at every stage.

As a FIFA Football Agent, Barry is licensed to advise on transfer, employment and representation matters - including those involving minor footballers. As former General Counsel at the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, Barry also offers rare insider expertise to clients navigating the rapidly expanding Saudi sports market.

Combining elite-level expertise with the personal touch of a boutique, Lysaght Sports delivers trusted advice grounded in first-hand experience at the heart of international sport.