Discovering Jean-Louis Dupont, the Architect of the Historic Bosman Ruling
Discovering Jean-Louis Dupont, the Architect of the Historic Bosman Ruling
The man who, wearing the judicial robe, has revolutionized the features of global football on two distinct occasions. The Belgian lawyer will be one of the speakers at the SFS Snack in Brussels.
The football lawyer. We can define Jean-Louis Dupont like this, but summarizing such an influential personality with three words would even be reductive. His figure is closely linked to two watershed events in the football context: the Bosman ruling and the Super League.
In the beginning was Bosman
The first pioneering act accomplished by Dupont became a solid reality in 1995. The lawyer at the time represented the legal reasons of the footballer Jean-Marc Bosman. Everything stems from 1990 when the player, under contract until the culmination of that season with RFC Liège, signed a pre-agreement with the French team Dunkerque. The Belgian team responded by demanding substantial compensation from the player (a request provided for by the market regulations of the time). The French club then decided to abandon the negotiation, while Bosman ended up out of the squad with his salary halved. Bosman himself contacted a team of lawyers including Dupont. The lawyers then turned to the EU Court of Justice. In 1995, here is the historic ruling: EU players have the right, upon contract expiration, to reach free transfer agreements with other clubs in one of the EU countries.
A list of VIP clients
Times change, but Dupont remains at the center of the regulatory scene of international football. The Belgian lawyer will defend top champions of the caliber of Raul, Zidane, and Beckham. Without forgetting the special one José Mourinho, or top continental clubs like Barcelona, Real Madrid, PSG, Juventus, and Milan.
The Super League issue
Here we are at the last revolutionary station. Everything and the opposite of everything has been written on the Super League issue. Rivers of journalistic services, essays, testimonies, protests from this or that fan base. Everyone has had the opportunity to form an idea. In this sense, Dupont’s role takes on proven relevance. The lawyer, born in 1965, represents, in the rooms of the European Court of Justice, the barricade erected by the founding companies of the parallel tournament to the official competitions historically organized by UEFA. A story, this, still open and that will offer further developments in the near future.
Appointment in Brussels
“Football governance and the legal struggles that shaped Football”, this is the title of the conference scheduled from 5:55 PM to 6:35 PM on March 26 as part of the SFS Snack in Brussels.
