People | Anil Matharu

Anil is a Solicitor in the firm's Sports and Sponsorship Groups. He advises on a broad range of commercial matters relating to the sports industry including event and tournament promotion, sponsorship, merchandising, official supply agreements and rights licensing. He also advises clients on commercial and intellectual property issues in player employment, representation and commercial contracts.

Anil acts for rights holders, sports governing bodies and corporate sponsors particularly within football, golf, motorsports and boxing. He also advises national and international player associations in cricket on various player participation issues.

For several years, Anil has advised the England Cricket team in relation to various commercial, contractual and licensing issues regarding the players’ arrangements with the ECB. This has also included advice on the terms of players’ annual Central Contracts and the basis on which they may participate in events such as the Indian Premier League and in ICC tournaments. In 2009 Anil was part of the team which advised Standard Chartered Bank in relation to its shirt and main sponsorship of Liverpool Football Club, one of the biggest sponsorship deals in Premier League history. He also regularly negotiates on behalf of the PGA European Tour in relation to its promoter, venue and licensing arrangements, as well as the sponsorship arrangements which led to the re-branding of the European Order of Merit as "The Race to Dubai".

The Sports law section of the independent legal directory, The Legal 500 (2010), recognises Anil for having “excellent attention to detail”.

Having graduated from Durham University with a BA (Combined Honours) in French, English and Law, Anil completed the CPE and LPC at Nottingham Law School. Previously Anil worked in sports media. He has obtained a Postgraduate Certificate in Sports Law from King's College London and a Postgraduate Diploma in Commercial Intellectual Property with Distinction from Nottingham Law School. He has particular experience and expertise in advising clients in relation to image rights and endorsement contracts, and has given industry-focused seminars and written articles in leading intellectual property periodicals in relation to these areas.