BOARD OF ADVISORS

Dr. Shameek Sen is an Assistant Professor at the West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences, Kolkata, India. He specializes in Public Law disciplines like Constitutional Law and Media Law. After graduating from the WBNUJS in 2005 as a part of the very first graduating batch of the University and finishing his LL.M. in 2007 (where he won the prestigious Nani Palkivala Gold Medal for securing the highest marks in his batch), Dr. Sen joined as an Assistant Professor in WBNUJS. He completed his M.Phil. in the year 2008 and Ph.D. in the year 2016. His Ph.D. thesis is titled “Free Speech and Censorship, with special reference to the Law of Obscenity”. Dr. Sen has several publications as books, book chapters and articles in peer-reviewed journals. He has also presented several papers in international conferences and symposia.

Dr. Sen has been the Assistant Co-ordinator of the Sir Justice Asutosh Mookerjee Chair for Studies in Tradition, Law and Social Transformation in Bengal funded by the Government of West Bengal and the Co-investigator of a Research Project on ‘Urbanization and Environmental Protection’ funded by the West Bengal Judicial Academy. He also currently holds the position of Coordinator at the Centre for Studies in Entertainment and Media Law at WBNUJS, Kolkata. He has delivered lectures as a Resource Person in many reputed institutions of Kolkata and elsewhere. Apart from Law and Legal Education, Dr. Sen is actively interested in Indian politics, sports, literature, cinema and music.

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Ms. Aahna Mehrotra is the Founder of AM Sports Law and Management Co. and a Partner at TMT Law Practice. She was called to the Bar in May, 2011 and has gained considerable exposure through her experiences at different institutions worldwide.After completing her schooling from the prestigious Mayo College Girls’ School, Ms. Aahna studied law at the ILS Law College, Pune. She then worked at TMT Law Practice, for a year, before leaving for her Master in Entertainment and Sports Law from UCLA, School of Law. During her year at UCLA, Aahna worked in the Intellectual Property and Anti-Piracy department at Warner Bros., which helped in polishing her skills in the American system. She further enhanced her skills by pursuing a certificate course in Sports Law held at the University of Cambridge and a second Master’s degree in Sports Law from ISDE, Madrid. She also has a certificate in Sports Law from the Sports Law and Policy Centre, in Italy; a certificate in Intellectual Property from the London School of Economics; a certificate in Entertainment Law from the University of New Hampshire; and attended a certificate course in Sports Law at the University of Geneva, which was held in collaboration with Duke University, U.S.A. Ms. Aahna is actively involved in the day-to-day affairs of the business of sports. She regularly advises clients on matters relating to league formulation, transfer of players, selection disputes, arbitration, intellectual property rights, media and broadcasting rights, sponsorship and merchandising agreements, gaming and betting laws, fantasy sports and contract law. She has been instrumental in setting up some of the major franchise-based leagues both, in India and abroad and has also worked with several sports start-ups across industries like tech, education, grassroots, media, etc. She serves as a visiting faculty at several sports law and management programmes of repute and is regularly invited to speak at sports conferences.

Ms. Aahna serves as the Vice Chairperson on the National Anti-Doping Disciplinary Panel and is a member of the Arbitrational Tribunal constituted by Football Delhi. Amongst her most notable publications is co-authoring the second edition of the book ‘Law and Sports in India’ published by LexisNexis.

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Mr. Anirban is an alumnus of The West Bengal National University of Juridical Sciences. He started his career as an Associate at LawNK, a Bangalore based niche law practice specializing in sports, intellectual property, media and information technology laws. He has also served as a Legal Counsel at Copyright Integrity International, a world leader in the protection of digital and broadcast rights and as Researcher at The Sports Law & Policy Centre, Bengaluru. He is a national gold medal winning equestrian and has served as the Joint Secretary of the Equestrian Federation of Assam. During his tenure as the Joint Secretary, the Equestrian Federation of Assam won the Fédération Equestre Internationale’s Solidarity Award in 2017, an award that recognises an equestrian development project, an individual or organisation that has demonstrated skill, dedication and energy in expanding the sport. He has been involved in the organisation of multiple national and international equestrian competitions. Fuelled by the desire to make quality education accessible to students of the northeastern states, he recently returned to his home state Assam to join the Assam Kaziranga University as its In-House Legal Advisor and Manager – Admissions. Currently, he is an independent practitioner. During this time, he has continued being a part of sports administration, particularly as a key member of the Equestrian Federation of Assam, focusing on expanding the sport in the northeastern region.

His research interests include sports accessibility, doping regulations, sports sociology, sports governance and, Olympic and Paralympic regulations for sportspersons. He has previously published various articles on minors’ rights in sports, games of skills in India, sports governance and sports event blackout regulations.

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Mr. Abhishek Sharma is a Sports Management Professional with ample knowledge in the Sports Industry in India. He holds a Diploma From Gujarat National law University, Gandhinagar in Sports Law, Sports Law and IP- Athletes Management Contracts; and a Post Graduate Diploma in Sports Management from the International Institute of Sports Management.

He is the founder of Athletes Today Sports Management Pvt. Ltd. Athletes today is a Sports Management Company that is working towards making professional sports affordable to all. Aligning all entities within the sports ecosystem- the athletes, the brand and the sports properties- this young company tries to capture opportunities for sports talents, especially at the grassroot level, through sports business aggregation, sponsorship, brand campaign planning, content management and sports consulting.

Mr. Abhishek manages professional sportspersons at national and international level, including Gurpreet Singh Sandhu, Cameron Watson, John Johnson, Sumit Rathi, Sushila Chanu, Rani Pampal, amongst many others.

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Mr. Tarun Singh is an Assistant Professor (Research), Gujarat National Law University(GNLU), Gandhinagar. He is a member of the GNLU Centre for Sports and Entertainment Law (GCSEL) and was appointed by the Government of Gujarat as a member of the drafting committee of the Gujarat Sports Development Code. With a teaching and research experience of 5 years in the area of Sports Law, Mr. Tarun has been invited as a resource person at various prestigious universities in India like Symbiosis Law School, Hyderabad, Institute of Law, Nirma University, Parul University, Vadodara, Swarnim Gujarat Sports University, Vadodara and Jagran Lakecity University, Bhopal, DNLU, Jabalpur, etc. He was the co-editor of Sports and Legislature, GCSEL’s journal on sports law and policy and was recently appointed as a Peer Reviewer of Extra-Cover, The Sports Law Blog of India.

Mr. Tarun is an alumnus of Jamia Millia Islamia, New Delhi (B.A. LL.B. (hons)) and GNLU (LL.M. in Constitutional and Administrative Law). Currently he is pursuing his second masters in Sports Law and Practice from the prestigious De Montfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom. He has 2 Government of Gujarat research projects under his name in the area of Sports Law and Policy and has published articles for various journals and blogs.

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Mr. Akshay Rajpurohit is an International Sports Lawyer. He obtained a Bachelor of Business Administration and Bachelor of Law degree (BBA-LLB) from Symbiosis International University, India. He further obtained a post-graduate degree in sports, called “FIFA Masters” – a unique and specialized course in sports law and management administered by The International Centre for Sports Studies (CIES).

He is well-experienced in international sports law practice, he is working as an independent consultant for the clubs, athletes, federations and law firms like Sportlicitors (Nigeria), FIFA Regional Office, South Asia. He has worked for FIFA in the Player Status Department (PSC) and Dispute Resolution Chamber (DRC) where he handled and investigated the claims of Players/Clubs/Coaches; claims in relation to Training Compensation (TC) and Solidarity Contribution (SC). He has also provided managerial and legal services to an Indian football club (Minerva Punjab FC), such as the negotiation and drafting of athletes’ contracts, advising the club on sporting and commercial matters, match day management and executing club licensing agreements.

He has expertise in dispute resolution matters of football; football transfer regulations; negotiation, drafting and review of athletes’ contracts.

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Ms. Pragati Banka did her B.B.A. L.L.B.(Hons) from Symbiosis Law School, Pune with a specialization in Marketing. She has been an avid athlete since childhood, representing her alma mater, Carmel School , Rourkela, for badminton, throwball and was the Guide Captain of Carmel School Company and has also cleared the Odisha State Bharat Scouts and Guides examination. She was the convenor of the Sports Committee of SLS, Pune, managing and facilitating all sports activities and also of Symbiosis Law School Sports Tournament’17-’18 which saw over 1500 participants from 20 colleges across India. She has also led the SLS Pune Volleyball and badminton team and was a core part of the football and athletics team. Her passion for Sports Law began after she attended a few Sports Law and Policy seminars and interned with the marketing team of Meraki Sport and Entertainment Pvt. Ltd. Mumbai.

Ms. Pragati is currently an associate with the Litigation and Alternate Dispute Resolution Team at Asia Law Offices, New Delhi. She is a member of the Editorial Board of Law et Justicia Law Review, a double-blind peer reviewed online journal in the field of law, and also a regular writer and researcher in the field who is keen on bringing better representation and management to various entities involved in the sports industry.

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Vidushpat is an advocate registered with the Delhi Bar Council. He is a member of the Election Oversight Panel of World Athletics (IAAF). He is a member of the Supreme Court Bar Association, FICCI National Sports Committee, Gaming and Leisure Group of UK-India Business Council, Regulatory Commission of the Indian Super League, Legal Committees’ of All India Gaming Federation, The Rummy Federation and Indian Federation of Sports Gaming, the Gaming Group of Internet and Mobile Association of India and ASSOCHAM’s Sports Committee. He is also a member of the managing committee of Sportscom, India’s first sport centric business chamber. He has been a member of the Governing Body of the Sports Authority of India and the All India Sports Council.

Vidushpat is the Co-author of the book, ‘Law and Sports in India’. He was involved in drafting the National Sports Development Bill, the Prevention of Sporting Fraud Bill and the Anti-Doping Bill 2018 for Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports and has assisted the Justice Mudgal Doping Probe Committee and the National Sports Development Code Committee. He was the secretary of the committee appointed by the Supreme Court to probe fixing in the Indian Premier League. He was a member of the committee established by the Ministry of Human Resource Development considering the integration of sports within the higher education system.

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Subhrajit is working as Assistant Professor and Assistant Director, Centre for Sports Law Business and Governance at OP Jindal Global University. He has completed his LL.M. in Sports Law, from Nottingham Trent University of United Kingdoms, with international scholarship provided by the university; he has also completed another LL.M. in Energy Law from University of Petroleum and Energy Studies, India. He did his B.B.A.LL.B. (Hons.) focussing on International Trade Law. Additionally, he has a diploma and has done certificate courses from FIFA, International Olympic Association, and also from Open University, UK in collaboration with English Football League. Currently, he is pursuing a PhD in Sports Law.

He is also a sports enthusiast and has played for the Sports Authority of India, eastern region. Back in UK, he has worked as sports mentor volunteer at Nottingham Trent University Partner with Laureus Foundation and UK Media and Sports Government.
He has also edited a book named “Sports Law and Policy in Present Global Scenario”, ISBN 978-81-946558-2-4. He is the Founder and Managing Editor of a sports e – journal known as Global Sports Policy Review.