Ben Cisneros

Ben Cisneros is a Law student at Selwyn College, Cambridge, soon to be entering his final year. Ben is particularly passionate about sports law, and is a future trainee of boutique firm, Morgan Sports Law.

During his second year of university, Ben was president of the Selwyn College Law Society, and has mooted both within his college and the wider university. He is a regular writer for the online law journal, Keep Calm Talk Law, and has written a Rugby Union column for Cambridge University’s oldest student newspaper, Varsity. He now also has his own blog: Rugby And The Law (www.rugbyandthelaw.com) - do check it out!

Outside of law, Ben is a musical-theatre enthusiast and a keen sportsman. When he is not rehearsing or performing, he enjoys playing rugby or hockey, and supporting his beloved England and Wasps RFC. Ben is also a keen golfer and a former national and European sailing champion.

1. You are clearly very sporty - have you always considered being involved in sport as part of your career?

“Very sporty” might be a step too far...I enjoy dabbling in various things but enjoy rather more sitting back and watching others do it properly. I like to keep tabs on most of the major sports.

On the contrary, I would never have expected that I’d end up working in sport. It was only when I was exploring different areas of law during my first year at university that I discovered “sports law” existed. Prior to that, I had never even contemplated it!

Once I gave it some thought, though, I realised pretty quickly that I wanted to do something which actually excites me rather than something I have to lie about in interviews to get offered a job!

2. From your studies, would you say there are any modules in particular which are linked to sports law? Do you see sports law as a distinct area of law in itself? How would you personally describe 'sports law'? 

This is something which is a matter of great debate but, from my point of view, Sports Law (as a term) can mean two things. Firstly, it can be used as a way of talking about all the legal issues which arise out of the sports sector: contractual disputes, anti-doping disputes, disciplinary rule breaches, sports injury claims etc etc. Secondly, it can refer to a set of principles which are developing (primarily through CAS) which are specific to resolving matters that arise in the sports sector, otherwise known as the ‘lex sportiva’. The latter is certainly a developing area which will be interesting to watch – or be a part of! – over the coming years. 

In terms of subjects which are most relevant, I’d say (in no particular order): contract, tort, public, labour, EU, commercial, intellectual property and perhaps comparative or conflicts of laws.

3. How did you find the application process at Morgan Sports Law? What attracted you to that firm in particular?  

I have been fortunate to have secured my Training Contract on the back of an internship at the firm rather than a traditional application process. I emailed MSL around Easter of my first year at uni, just enquiring about work experience. I ended up getting a two-week internship, which turned into a couple more spells of interning and, in the end, a training contract! In that sense, it was a great and very exciting process.

Well, originally, I was impressed by their client list and high-level experience of sports cases, hence I got in touch about work experience. In terms of my training, though, I now know the firm well and just really love it as a place to work. At the end of the day, it’s a small firm and, although I won’t have the same “trainee comradery” as at a big city firm, the level of responsibility and work I get exposed to is second to none. Everyone is incredibly friendly, and I feel like it’s somewhere I fit in very well. 

Their pro-athlete focus is something I am particularly drawn by and, having had vacation schemes and work experience elsewhere, I have realised that litigation is what I want to specialise in (MSL is predominantly a disputes practice). Having seen first-hand how athletes charged with Anti-Doping Rules Violations are misrepresented in the media, working for a firm which focuses on supporting these individuals and their teams will be hugely rewarding.

4. What advice would you give to law students considering going into sports law? What do law students need to do in order to also be successful when applying for a training contract at a sports law firm?

The main thing would be: put yourself out there. Email smaller firms, sports agencies etc and get some experience. Look out for internships at bigger organisations, too. The Sports Law world is pretty small, so if you can make some contacts it can really come in handy – who knows, you might even get a job out of it!

There are also more and more conferences out there, so you could always look in to going along. 

The most important thing, though, is that to be a good sports lawyer you first need to be a good lawyer. Hence, any legal experience you can get will go a long way to putting you on the right track, on top of making sure you do as well as you can academically. 

At the same time, if you’re wanting to get into sports law it’s probably worth getting something sport-related on your CV. Whether that’s playing, coaching, refereeing, blogging, journalism, or anything else, get involved!

5. What is your favourite topic (and/or case) within sports law?  

Given that I haven’t even started my training contract yet, I’m not well placed to nail down a favourite topic or case just yet, but I am certainly very interested in doping cases, as well as all manner of disciplinary things (contentious matters, basically). 

Recently, I was particularly taken in by World Rugby’s case against the Spanish Rugby Federation, concerning international eligibility as well as the possible replay of a World Cup qualification match, for reasons of possible (read: certain) bias. There were some very interesting legal points to come out of it, which I enjoyed getting my teeth into for Keep Calm Talk Law.

From an academic standpoint, I’m particularly interested in the role of administrative law within sport.

6. Are there any sports law developments you are particularly interested in? What do you think will be the main legal challenges the sports industry will face over the next few years?

Having been obsessed with rugby for as long as I can remember, I’m particularly interested in the sports law issues arising there. There are some big challenges for rugby, in terms of defining dangerous play and its sanctions, managing its commercial growth against the need for player welfare, issues of international player eligibility and ‘player drains’ and, of course, concussion. The latter is something I see as a significant legal challenge for all contact sports (soccer included) over the coming years.

Away from rugby-specific issues, the fight against doping will inevitably continue as science and technology advances to the point where there will be more and more ways to cheat. At the same time, of course, science and technology is also advancing in ways which can crack down on doping. Unfortunately, with systems now able to detect the tiniest of amounts of substances, and with so many possible substances having links to those which are prohibited, it is likely that inadvertent doping will continue to be an issue for many clean athletes. 

Equally, as a general point, with the continuing influx of cash into the sports sector, the incentives to cheat are going up and up. Anti-corruption, I imagine, will also be a major focus going forward (as we have seen in tennis recently). 

As I mentioned above, I’m particularly interested in the application of administrative law to the sporting context. With governing bodies (national and international) becoming increasingly powerful, the control they hold over athletes becomes increasingly state-like – how many sectors have the power to sanction people so severely without public oversight? The potential for abuse of athletes’ rights is significant. Accountability in the sports sector is therefore something I am very keen to see improve, whether this be through the extension of judicial review, the creation of a sports ombudsman, or perhaps a UK Sports Tribunal. 

Other areas of concern for all sports are the use/security of data, and safeguarding. With hacking, data breaches, and abuse scandals rocking various sports institutions in the past few years, it is clear that more needs to be done to protect against it. More data is being collected than ever and, with the gambling industry expanding all the time there is certainly potential for ‘fraud’, never mind other privacy issues.

Away from all the negatives, I’m going to be intrigued to see how the Esports market develops over the coming years – will we even still be watching traditional sports in 30 years’ time?

7. What are you most looking forward to about starting work as a sports lawyer? Do you have any worries?  
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It’s tricky to pin any one thing down, to be honest. I’m just excited about getting started, being a proper lawyer and getting to work on exciting cases. I suppose the big excitement for me, and the main reason for wanting to work in sports law is that I’m going to be doing law (which I really enjoy) in a sector I am genuinely passionate about. I suppose from a slightly less professional perspective, I’m looking forward to meeting some famous athletes and doing some serious fangirling… I don’t have any real worries at the moment.