© 2024 PZCR legal - Designed and developed by Websitelia
Partner
José, partner of PZCR Legal, is a registered lawyer in Spain (ICAM), England & Wales (Solicitor), and in France too (Avocat à la Cour). He started his career as a practicing lawyer, at an English and at a Spanish top law firms, then as in-house counsel at a telecoms multinational company and at FIFA, and between 2016 and 2023 in a legal boutique specialized in Sports Law, EU and Competition Law and arbitration, until he co-founded PZCR Legal, SLP in January 2024.
His practice covers EU and competition law, sports and entertainment law, telecommunications law, and arbitration and international contracts.
In addition, he stands out for his international profile and experience, having worked as a lawyer or in-house counsel in Madrid, Brussels, Zurich, Lisbon and Rome.
He holds a degree in Law and Business Administration and is an expert in corporate legal advice (Instituto de Empresa (IE)), EU and Competition Law (Universidad Carlos III de Madrid; and King's College, London) and Sports Law; and has specialized training in arbitration and international contracting.
jose.paez@pzcr.legal
José is a lecturer and member of the Academic Council of the Master in EU Law at the Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, which is the oldest and most prestigious Master in Spain.
– Publication on Iusport.com of a series of five articles devoted to compliance in professional and semi-professional football (May–July 2026).
– Action for revision (recours en révision / revisionsklage) under Swiss law. Is it available against FIFA decisions? (published in June 2025 in 53rd issue of CEIA’s review IURGIUM).
– Dictionary of sports law (2025 – 2026): a project led by José in which his team and he are working with collaborators from the sports sector and the media to define the most relevant legal terms from among those commonly used by sports law experts, the media and the general public.
– Speaker at the seminar ‘Fundamental Skills in the Counsel Practice of Arbitration’ organised by the European Section of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) (21st January 2025).
– “Why the Number of Matches Played by Professional Footballers Should Be Limited”, published on 27 September 2024 on the website of the Spanish Sports Law Association (AEDD).
– Interview on El Larguero, Cadena SER, regarding the Premier League v. Manchester City case (17 September 2024). Full interview available through this link.
– “International Legal Framework Applicable to Football Coaches”, published in Iusport (16 August 2024).
– Since 2024, lecturer in the Master’s Degree in EU Law at Carlos III University of Madrid, responsible for the session on ‘Sports Arbitration and European Competition Law’.
– “RFEF: Should the Possible Suspension and Sanction Resulting from the Actions of the Management Committee Also Extend to the Regional Presidents Serving on It? What the Law Provides and What Ethics Require”, published in the online edition of El Periódico de España, Grupo Prensa Ibérica (19 April 2024).
– “The Super League, the CJEU and the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union”, published in Iusport (24 December 2023).
– Newspaper El País quoted my responses to its questions regarding UEFA’s restrictions on multi-club ownership in connection with the sale process of Manchester United (23 March 2023).
– A Guide To The EU Foreign Subsidies Regulation And What It Means For Sport, published on 1st March 2023 on LawInSport.
– ‘Micula: Where are we in this ICSID – EU law saga? An overview to understand where the last developments lead to. Back to square one? Maybe’, in Spain Arbitration Review (43/2022) (index available here).
– XV International Arbitration Congress IPA 2021. Speaker on the panel ‘Artificial intelligence and algorithms in international arbitration’ (August 2021).
– Interview with the Italian news agency ANSA, as an expert in European, competition and sports law, regarding the Super League (20 April 2021).
– Speaker at the Webinar on Sports Law Arbitration organised by the Peruvian Institute of Arbitration: ‘What next? Options available to the parties after the notification of an award rendered in a CAS arbitration’.
– Speaker at the seminar ‘Jurisdiction and Evidence in Sports Arbitration’, in the panel on ‘Jurisdictional Issues in Sports Arbitration’ (21st February 2020) (Brussels, Belgium).
– Selected by Sport Resolutions for the ad hoc panel of the International Tennis Federation Davis Cup Finals (18–24 November 2019) (Madrid, Spain).
– Opinion article on the options available to AS Roma to seek compensation following the failed signing of Malcom (3 August 2018).
– Article on the claim allegedly filed by Sporting Portugal against Gelson Martins and Atlético de Madrid before FIFA (1 August 2018).
– A review of the 2018 Report on the Football Transfer Market: In an article published in World Sports Advocate, I analyse the legal aspects addressed in the European Commission’s March 2018 report on the football transfer market (“An update on change drivers and economic and legal implications of transfers of players”), while also assessing the achievements of the previous 2013 study in terms of regulatory changes to the transfer market.
– Griezmann case – my opinion regarding Atlético de Madrid’s complaint before FIFA against FC Barcelona for alleged contacts with Antoine Griezmann: article in Iusport.com; interviews on El Partidazo de COPE, beIN Sports USA (both Spanish and English editions), and La Sexta.
– «Spanish competition authority fines Spain’s professional basketball league» (World Sports Law Report, Núm. mayo de 2017).
– Newspaper El País quoted my responses to its questions regarding the rules governing participation in national football teams in relation to Serbia’s interest in calling up Bojan Krkic (22 September 2016).
– Interview in the EU affairs publication Aquí Europa regarding State aid in sport (16 September 2016).
– “Termination Clauses under Spanish Sports Law” (Issue No. 49 (October-December 2015) of Revista Aranzadi de derecho del deporte y del entretenimiento).
– ‘Procedural remedies and actions against a CAS award’ (World Sports Law Report, November 2015).
– «Q&A: The CJEU rejects Striani referral in FFP challenge» (website of World Sports Law Report, July 2015).
– «FIFA sanctions to FC Barcelona & Spanish FA: analysis» (artículo and vídeo, World Sports Law Report, issue of April 2014).
– ‘Is the system of the Portuguese Court of Arbitration for Sport compatible with the Constitution of the Republic of Portugal?’, Jurisport : Revue Juridique et économique du sport (nº 147, 2014).
– “The Opening of Formal State Aid Investigation Procedures against Spanish Clubs” (Spanish Sports Law Review, No. 33 (January-June 2014), p. 55-90).
– The Diego Costa case: «Player eligibility: the Diego Costa case» (World Sports Law Report, issue of February 2014); and newspaper El Mundo, AS and El País; online publication Iusport; and radio program “Intermedio” on Radio Marca.
© 2024 PZCR legal - Designed and developed by Websitelia