Hosted by the Super League Greece, the first edition of the EPFL Legal Workshop on “Transfer and Registration of Players at Domestic and International Level” took place today at the Divani Caravel Hotel in Athens and was a great success.

The event gathered the legal experts and executives of more than 50 European Leagues and Clubs who had the opportunity to discuss and share experiences on the legal framework of Player Transfers.

Georg Pangl, General Secretary of the EPFL opened the day and thanked the Super League Greece and its President, Giorgos Stratos for hosting the EPFL Legal Workshop in Athens. They both welcomed the participants and stressed the importance of today’s workshop for the success of European Football.

Following that introduction, Miguel Garcia - Head of Legal Affairs at Real Madrid CF, Massimo Cosentino - General Secretary of FC Internazionale and Mark Annett - Head of Football Operations at the Premier League presented to the audience an in-depth insight of Transfer and Registration and Regulations at Domestic Level.

The Legal Workshop was a valuable platform to learn about the most pressing issues in the International Transfer of Players with presentation from Gaudenz Koprio - Senior Group Leader FIFA Players’ Status - who discussed about Provisional Registration of Players, followed by João Lobão - In-house Lawyer at Sporting Clube de Portugal - who tackled the issues on “last minute” transfers and FIFA TMS.

The EPFL Legal Workshop was successfully concluded with ECA Legal Counsel, Daan de Jong and EPFL Head of Legal Affairs, Ornella Desirée Bellia who took the floor and discussed the topic of International Transfer of Minors.

The next Legal Workshop is planned to take place in December of this year.

"It is an honour and privilege for all of us at Super League Greece to host the 1st EPFL Legal Workshop here in Athens, with the participation of experts from all across Europe. The Workshop is an important step towards closer cooperation and success for European Football and we are here to listen and learn from leading legal experts on the status of player transfers both at the domestic and international level. I wish to personally thank Mr. Georg Prangl, the General Secretary at the EPFL, Mrs. Ornella Desiree Bellia, Head of Legal Affairs at the EPFL and each and every one attending the inaugural edition of the EPFL Legal Network" said Giorgos Stratos, President of the Super League Greece.

Georg Pangl, EPFL General Secretary stated “Is it great to see so many experts from all across Europe gather together to share their views on the transfer system. This is a hot topic on the current football agenda since the summer transfer window is a key and strategic time for all clubs and players around Europe. We wanted to create a platform for participants to be able to share technical issues and thoughts on this matter. Furthermore, I would like to thank the Super League Greece for being a perfect host of this great and successful event.”

“We have created the EPFL Legal Network with the ambition of having an exclusive forum dedicated to the experts of our leagues and all their clubs. The first legal workshop has proved that there is a need to discuss the most critical legal topics together, clubs and leagues, to find solutions and make constructive proposals to improve the football legal framework” said Ornella Desirée Bellia, Head of EPFL Legal Affairs