Cleary Gottlieb

Partnership with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP

Following on from contact made in the context of work on the SDE feasibility study and further developed at the extremely successful Conference in October 2008, SD is very pleased to announce that it has established a partnership with Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, one of the world's leading international law firms. 

Cleary Gottlieb lawyers from a number of UEFA member countries will make themselves available to provide pro bono corporate legal advice to affiliated supporters groups on a variety of issues arising in relation to the effort to enhance supporters' influence in the decision-making process at football clubs throughout Europe. 

In particular, we expect that they will be available to assist groups in areas such as

• Establishing legal personality, including advice as to possible corporate forms and the provision of "models" of constituent documents (articles of associates, statutes, by-laws, etc.) that could be used for these purposes.

• Advice as to the legal rights and responsibilities groups already have as a result of their current relationship with their clubs (whether as members, shareholders or otherwise), and ways in which those rights can be used more effectively.

• Advice regarding other possible avenues for enhancing supporters' influence in their respective clubs, taking into account the legal structure of the clubs themselves.

In keeping with the pro bono nature of the representation, the firm will not charge for its services.

As part of the partnership, Cleary Gottlieb will also provide corporate legal services to SD in our European work and the firm has already begun advising the project.  It is not expected that the partnership will comprise any representation of SDE or its affiliated groups in adversary proceedings.

About CGSH

Founded in 1946 by lawyers committed to legal excellence, internationalism and diversity, Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP is a leading international law firm with approximately 1000 lawyers around the world.  The firm has offices in 12 international legal and business centres, including Brussels, Cologne, Frankfurt, London, Milan, Moscow, Paris and Rome.  Having been active in Europe for almost sixty years, Cleary Gottlieb is fully qualified to advise on the laws of many UEFA member states, as well as being recognised as one of the world's pre-eminent firms in the area of EU law and regulation.

Partnership Policy

Supporters Groups affiliated to SDE must meet the following criteria:

1.  Overall the group must aim to improve the relationship between the club and its fans.
2. It must aim to exercise influence in the running of the club to improve its operations through share ownership, board representation and / or other formal and / or informal relationships to the club.
3. It must be democratic, in which one member has one vote.
4. It must be an inclusive organization.
5. It must be accountable, transparent and open.
6. It has to be committed to non-violence, non-discrimination and equal opportunities.
7. It must be committed to non-distribution of profit.