CHIEF LEGAL OFFICER – FIFA

Emilio Garcia

Doctor in Law at Rey Juan Carlos University in Madrid in which he served as Associate Professor on Labour and Sports Law since 2004 until 2012. Master in Sports Law (2003, Lleida University, Spain) and Master in European Sports Governance (Science Po, Paris).

In the field of football, Emilio was responsible for all legal matters as Legal Director of the Spanish Football Federation for more than eight years (2004-2012). At the same time, he was appointed as member of the UEFA Control and Disciplinary Body for the period 2006-2012.

In March 2012, he was also appointed CAS Arbitrator by the International Council for Arbitration of Sport.

In September 2012, Emilio joined UEFA as Head of Disciplinary and Integrity. In 2017 we was promoted to his current position, Managing Director of Integrity. He is now responsible for all Integrity matters of UEFA, in particular, the following:

– Lead, supervise and provide all necessary legal and administrative support to the UEFA Organs for the Administration of Justice (the Control, Ethics and Disciplinary Body, the Appeals Body and the Adjudicatory Chamber of the Club Financial Control Body) ensuring the highest standards of decision making within the UEFA judicial bodies.

– Providing guidance to national federations, clubs, players regarding the disciplinary framework and procedures.

-Oversee the UEFA Anti-doping and medical programme.

– Oversee the defence of UEFA in disciplinary decisions challenged before the CAS or any other jurisdiction.

– Oversee the operation of UEFA’s Betting Fraud Detection System (BFDS) and the functioning of the network of Integrity Officers in order to shape and coordinate the fight against match-fixing in European football.

Over the last years, Emilio acted as UEFA’s main legal counsel at the most relevant proceedings relating to disciplinary (Fenerbahce, Serbia & Albania, Legia), anti-doping (Ademi) financial fair play (Malaga, Galatasaray) and match-fixing proceedings (Fenerbahce, Besiktas, Eskiserhirspor, Skenderbeu) in European football before CAS.