I think so. First of all, it's important to remember that the old regime dated from 2013 and, although it was amended in 2017, it was a legal framework that was completely out of step with our sporting reality. On the other hand, according to the Government, in Portugal around 301% of sports companies were involved in insolvency or dissolution proceedings. Therefore, a legal regime was essential that addressed the growing litigation between clubs and companies, while simultaneously making the sector attractive for private investment. I believe that the changes introduced, even with their shortcomings, are moving in that direction.<\/p>\n
2 \u2013 What are the major changes present in the new legal framework for sports companies?<\/strong><\/p>\n I would say we can divide the changes into three groups. The first concerns the rebalancing of the relationship between founding clubs and sports societies. The second relates to corporate organization, with the possibility of creating limited liability companies. In the past, clubs could choose between single-member companies, where the club was the sole shareholder, and public limited companies, with great structural complexity. The creation of a third option will be an interesting tool for small and medium-sized clubs seeking private investment. Finally, the third group encompasses changes relating to transparency and conflicts of interest.<\/p>\n 3 \u2013 The Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth (IPDJ) will become a regulatory body. Is this the right approach considering the Portuguese reality?<\/strong><\/p>\n In my opinion, choosing the IPDJ (Portuguese Institute of Sport and Youth) is a mistake. The Institute lacks the aptitude for permanent and specialized oversight of the sports clubs market. Moreover, this wasn't even the legislator's first choice, as the original version of the legislation envisioned oversight being handled by a platform dedicated to addressing the manipulation of sports competitions. Currently, the IPDJ lacks the know-how, human resources, and even the budget for this mission. Either the IPDJ's structure will be reinforced, or the oversight will remain a good intention without practical results.<\/p>\n 4 \u2013 Relations between the founding club and the SAD (Sociedade An\u00f3nima Desportiva, a type of sports corporation in Brazil) haven't always been the best. Does the new system make this relationship more balanced?<\/strong><\/p>\n I believe that this relationship was the main reason for this change in the law. These are not mere disagreements between founding clubs and companies, but true ruptures that precipitated, in some cases, the disappearance of several Portuguese clubs. Perhaps the best-known case is that of Belenenses, but we can recall many others such as Beira Mar or Aves. With the new regime, there is a clear strengthening of the club's position vis-\u00e0-vis the sports company. From penalties for violating agreements between clubs and companies, to the clarification that the club is the sporting heir of the company in case of dissolution, to the introduction of an observer appointed by the club's members with a seat at the company's meetings, but without a vote.<\/p>\n 5 \u2013 Will oversight become more stringent across various areas?<\/strong><\/p>\n More than just oversight, I believe there is much tighter control over who can invest in or manage a sports company. This control is exercised not only at the level of the shareholders' suitability, but also regarding the investors' economic capacity and the origin of the investment. Alongside this prior control, the legislator also introduced a reinforced regime of incompatibilities. For example, it is no longer possible to have corporate links to sports betting or player brokerage companies and simultaneously manage a sports company.<\/p>\n 6 \u2013 One of the issues that is often discussed when talking about SADs (Sports Limited Companies) is their tax and social security situation. What changes at this level, particularly regarding oversight?<\/strong><\/p>\n Contrary to what one might think, the tax and social security situation of sports clubs is already subject to very strict scrutiny by the League, not only during the competitive licensing process, but also through quarterly verification of salary payments. What no longer happens is the possibility of a club being denied access to public support because its tax situation was not regularized. With this revision of the law, that injustice ends.<\/p>\n 7 \u2013 In recent months, the possibility of investment in the SADs (sports corporations) of Nacional and Mar\u00edtimo has been raised. How do you analyze this situation?<\/strong><\/p>\n It's an inevitable path if Mar\u00edtimo and Nacional want to remain relevant in sports. Without private investment, Madeira will disappear from professional football. Just look at the current landscape of professional football in Portugal. Sports clubs without private investors are a minority. Faced with reduced public investment and the emergence of new sports projects with foreign investment, Nacional and Mar\u00edtimo are forced to seek new sources of revenue, namely by opening their share capital to new partners. Therefore, I don't believe we should demonize private investment in football. What's needed is to make it credible, transparent, and sustainable.<\/p>\n 8 \u2013 What precautions should the two clubs from Madeira in professional football take to avoid the bad examples we have seen in other situations?<\/strong><\/p>\n Without addressing these specific cases, I believe that, nowadays, any club wishing to open its sports association to private investment must take two main precautions: the credibility of the investor and the sustainability of the project. If we look closely, it has always been one of these points that has caused investments to prove disastrous for clubs. It seems to me that the new law offers tools to facilitate this prior control of the investment, and then it will be up to the clubs to negotiate a shareholders' agreement with the investor that guarantees sporting success and sustainability.<\/p>\n O advogado Jo\u00e3o Paulo Marques, da Marques Barradas Advogados, conversou com o Di\u00e1rio de Not\u00edcias da Madeira relativamente \u00e0 entrada em vigor do novo regime jur\u00eddico das sociedades desportivas e o impacto do novo enquadramento legal na entrada de novos investidores privados nessas sociedades, nomeadamente na SAD do Mar\u00edtimo e do Nacional. Leia abaixo a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1043,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[5,13,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1040","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artigos","category-direito-do-desporto","category-noticias"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mb-advogados.pt\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/09\/WhatsApp-Image-2023-09-11-at-06.57.57-243x300.jpeg\")
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