Omar Ongaro

Of Counsel

Courriel: omar.ongaro@morgansl.com

Téléphone mobile: +41 79 816 47 53

Emplacement: Lausanne (Switzerland)

_{Omar joined Morgan Sports Law in January 2023 after more than 20 years at FIFA.}

Initially, Omar was engaged as Legal Counsel, before becoming first Head of Players’ Status and later Head of Players’ Status and Governance. Finally he acted as Football Regulatory Director where he supervised and coordinated the activities of the Players’ Status Department, the Professional Football Department as well as the TMS Global Transfers and Compliance Department. Omar also acted as Expert Technical Advisor for three years, advising FIFA, stakeholders and other parties seeking advice in any football regulatory matter, as well as supporting the reforms of the transfer system.

Omar is still acting as Deputy Chairman of the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC), as well as CAS Arbitrator.

Omar is a regular lecturer at various Masters and other academic programmes in international sports law. He speaks Italian, German, English, French and Spanish.

Contributed to providing the administrative organisation and support to the DRC and the Players’ Status Committee of FIFA (i.e. back office work, including drafting of decisions) between 2000 and 2016;
Oversaw numerous high-profile transfer-related disputes, as well as employment-related disputes between players and clubs, coaches and clubs or associations and disputes relating to training compensation and the solidarity mechanism;
Represented FIFA in dozens of proceedings before CAS as in-house counsel, defending the various decisions of the DRC and the Players’ Status Committee relating to disputes in the aforementioned areas;
Oversaw numerous proceedings concerning the international transfer of minor players (i.e. younger than 18) in the light of the FIFA provisions on the protection of minors;
Dealt with and oversaw numerous proceedings relating to eligibility of players’ to play for association teams as well as changes of associations;
Actively involved in the drafting of all FIFA regulations relevant to my position, in particular, the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players, the Rules Governing the Procedures of the Players’ Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber, the different editions of the Players’ Agents and Intermediaries Regulations, but also FIFA’s rules governing the eligibility of players’ to play for representative teams.

Publications relating to arbitration and/or sports law:

‘I soggetti della controversia sportive’, together with Paolo Lombardi – in Lo Sport e il Diritto, Profili istituzionali e regolamentazione giuridica, a cura di Michele Colucci (Jovene editore 2004), p. 223 et seqq.
‘Remarks on the case law of the FIFA Players’ Status Committee and the FIFA Dispute Resolution Chamber – A few selected topics’ – in M. Bernasconi/A. Rigozzi (eds.), Sport Governance, Football Disputes, Doping and CAS Arbitration, 2nd CAS & SAV/FSA Conference Lausanne 2008 (publ. by Weblaw Berne 2009), p. 199 et seqq.
‘The system of training compensation according to the FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players’ – in European Sports Law and Policy Bulletin, Issue I-2010, ‘The Bernard Case – Sports and Training Compensation’, p. 69 et seqq.
‘Remarks on the case law of the FIFA Players’ Status Committee and the Dispute Resolution Chamber of FIFA’ – in Antonio Rigozzi/Michele Bernasconi (eds.), CAS Jurisprudence and New Developments in International Sports Law, 3rd CAS & SAV/FSA Conference Lausanne 2010 (publ. by Weblaw, Berne 2012), p. 175 et seqq.
‘Maintenance of contractual stability between professional football players and clubs – The FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players and the relevant case law of the Dispute Resolution Chamber’ – in European Sports Law and Policy Bulletin, Issue I-2011, ‘Contractual Stability in Football’, p. 27 et seqq.
‘Commission du Statut du Joueur et Chambre de Résolution des Litiges de la FIFA’ – in Droit et Économie du Sport, ‘Règlement des Litiges au sein du Mouvement Sportif’, 2012, p. 33 et seqq.
‘Dispute Resolution at the Fédération Internationale de Football Association and its Judicial Bodies’, together with Marc Cavaliero – in European Sports Law and Policy Bulletin, Issue I-2013, ‘International and Comparative Sports Justice’, p. 77 et seqq.
‘FIFA’s Provisions on the Protection of Minors – Background and their Application’, together with Gaudenz Koprio and Kimberly Morris – in Football Legal, The international journal dedicated to football law, #7 – June 2017, ‘Special report: Minors in Football’, p. 49 et seqq.
‘FIFA’s Provisions on the Unilateral Termination of Contracts – Background and their Application’, together with Mario Flores Chemor and Maja Kuster Hoffmann – in Football Legal, The international journal dedicated to football law, #9 – June 2018, ‘Special report: Termination of Players’/Coaches’ Contracts’, p. 46 et seqq.
‘FIFA Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players – The latest developments’ – in Michele Colucci and Ornella Desirée Bellia (eds.), Sports Law and Policy Centre, Issue I-2020, ‘Transfers of football players, A practical approach to implementing FIFA rules’, p. 17 et seqq.
‘COVID-19 – Contractual Disputes Originating from the Pandemic: First findings from the jurisprudence of the Dispute Resolution Chamber’ – in The European Club Association (ECA) Legal Journal, Issue 01 – November 2021, p. 16 et seqq.
‘The FIFA Football Tribunal – What did actually change?’ - in Football Legal, The international journal dedicated to football law, #16 – December 2021, p. 161 et seqq.