About

An experienced sports lawyer occupying a unique role looking at financial fair play matters in football, Andrew Mercer is at the forefront of one of the most interesting legal developments in the game. He does this from his position in the disciplinary & integrity unit of European football’s governing body. After working in private practice as an associate at Slaughter & May, Andrew joined UEFA in 2010 – starting off in the marketing legal services division helping with high-profile agreements with major names such as adidas, McDonald’s and Coca-Cola. Since 2013, he has had responsibility for the legal aspects of UEFA’s club licensing and financial fair play programme. This involves working closely with UEFA’s club financial control body overseeing ‘various club licensing and financial fair play investigations carried out throughout the football season and the disciplinary cases brought against clubs’. This multi-faceted role requires him to be on top of these important cases, plus overseeing ‘the drafting and interpretation of regulations and the drafting of judicial decisions, statements of appeal and other official documentation.’ He also represents UEFA at Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) hearings. Additionally, Andrew has also ‘broadened the scope’ of his responsibilities and is now also involved in ‘various disciplinary cases brought before the UEFA control, ethics and disciplinary body and the UEFA appeals body’. Andrew sees financial fair play as ‘an incredibly interesting, challenging and topical area to be involved in’, and these rules as ‘breaking new ground’.  Many of the cases that he is involved in are ‘the first of their kind’ and require ‘creative thinking and innovative solutions’. Alongside satisfaction from this ground-breaking legal work, Andrew cites the ‘dedicated and talented individuals’ he interacts with as the most enjoyable things about his role. Reflecting Andrew’s ambition and passion, he enjoys working to such ‘high standards’ and that every day at UEFA offers him ‘a new learning opportunity’.