Sports law in 2025 – Key issues to watch in Africa, Asia & Oceania

Here are the top sports law issues to watch out for in 2025 in Africa, Asia & Oceania from the LawInSport Editorial & Advisory Board.  We hope this proves useful not only in identifying specific cases and issues, but also in detecting broader themes when read in conjunction with the contributions from other jurisdictions.

Contributors:

• Kelvin Omuojine, Partner, SportHouse LP, Nigeria
  • Progress of the new National Sports Commission
• Steve Bainbridge, Head of Sports & Entertainment (Middle East), Greenberg Traurig LLP
  • Saudi Arabia’s march to the 2034 FIFA World Cup
  • PGA vs. LIV Golf
  • 2036 Olympic bids
  • Bids for Formula 1? 
• Michael Savva, Partner, Watson Farley & Williams (Middle East) LLP
  • How Saudi authorities will continue to support player transfers into the Saudi market
• Aahna Mehrotra, Partner, AM Sports Law and Management Co, India
  • The National Sports Policy, 2024 and the National Sports Governance Bill, 2024
  • The legal battle between Winzo Games Private Limited vs Google LLC:
  • Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) plans to organise national leagues to promote sports
• Mickey Ingles - Lawyer & Professor, Ingles Laurel Calderon & Ateneo de Manila University, Philippines
  • Retaining world-class talent
• Jack Anderson, Professor of Law, University of Melbourne
  • Financial fair play; the uneasy relationship sport and gambling; and Jannik Sinner
• Sam Fellows, Member of the Sports Tribunal of New Zealand and Sports Law and Governance Consultant, New Zealand
  • Ongoing evolution of sports integrity measures
  • Corporate compliance with full implementation of Incorporated Societies Act 2022
  • Athlete welfare and mental health
• Shoichi Sugiyama, Attorney-at-Law, Field-R Law, Japan
  • The revision of Japan’s Sport Basic Act
  • Tackling online abuse
• Dev Kumar Parmar, Principal Director, and Swagath Chanila Ramachandra, Associate, Parmars
  • Progress of the new ICC Chairman, Mr. Jay Shah: Could we see cricket in the Olympics?

We would like to thank each member of our Editorial and Advisory Board for taking the time out of their busy schedules to share their views with us, and also more broadly for their significant input into LawInSport over the course of the year. Thank you.