Melanie Schärer started the New Year with an exciting invitation from Iranian WISLaw member Dr Parand Azizi, CAS arbitrator and advisor to the National Olympic Committee (NOC) Iran, to organise and hold the country’s first international sports law congress at the NOC headquarters.

Melanie Schärer accepted the challenge and travelled with a small group of WISLaw experts selected by her (Brigitte Perez-Frei, World Traveller and recently retired Swiss Trademark Attorney, Nuray Eksi, Professor of Private International Law at Yeditepe University in Istanbul as well as Andrea Zimmermann-Sherpa, CAS Counsel and founder of Wild Yak Expeditions in Nepal) to Iran, where, after a warm welcome by the hosts, the whole team of sports lawyers was able to first spend a few days sightseeing in the beautiful historic city of Isfahan.

After these first impressions, the group then held intensive workshops on January 9 and 10, 2019, on various sports law issues, such as good governance in sport, dispute resolution in football, the functioning of the International Court of Arbitration for Sport and human rights in sport.

The Iranian sports world was enthusiastic about the knowledge Melanie Schärer and the WISLawyers brought to Tehran, and no opportunity was missed to answer as many questions as possible during the workshops.

The mixed audience of around 200 participants on both days consisted of sports lawyers and athletes, owners of football clubs, students and professors as well as sports journalists. The event, which took place for the first time in this format, was even broadcasted on Iranian television and seemed to be a success. In honour of the event and its speakers, an official Iranian stamp of the Congress was produced with the WISLaw logo printed on it. It was an honour for Melanie Schärer and WISlaw to be the first group to perform at the NOC in Tehran with their expertise in sports law. Kheili Mamnoon, Parand!