EuroLeague Players’ Association names new Secretary General

Nov 28, 2022 | Home News, Media, News

Long-serving legal advisor Alexander Engelhard assumes position as ELPA Secretary General

Alexander Engelhard has been an integral part of ELPA since 2018 serving as outside legal counsel alongside Spanish lawyer Jose Lasa and Slovenian lawyer Luka Milanovic. Engelhard was instrumental in the establishment and registration of the association in Germany and later became the lead lawyer in the negotiations of the EuroLeague Framework Agreement (EFA), the first-of-its-kind Pan-European collective bargaining agreement in professional sport. He has been part of the core legal team of ELPA, which helped guiding players through the Covid pandemic and the fallout of the Russian war in Ukraine.

Engelhard is a German qualified attorney and a leading advocate in the sports and entertainment industry specializing in international dispute resolution, regulatory and contractual matters. He also acts as arbitrator and certified mediator. In addition, he advises clients on the drafting of contracts, rules and regulations. Besides, he has considerable expertise in marketing and commercial matters, ranging from sponsorship and image rights to talent representation, player transfers and endorsement deals. Engelhard has been involved in more than 100 national and international sports arbitrations, among others before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the Basketball Arbitral Tribunal (BAT), the Euroleague Basketball Dispute Resolution Chamber (EBDRC) and Sport Resolutions.

Anze Blazic, who served as ELPA’s first Secretary General since 2018, will continue as ELPA’s new Operations Manager focusing on business operations, events, projects and partnerships.

Alexander Engelhard, ELPA’s new Secretary General: “I would like to thank Managing Director Bostjan Nachbar, and the Players’ Board for their trust. For me, joining ELPA as Secretary General is not just business, it’s personal. I am proud of how far ELPA has come in a short time. The first four years were focused on getting established, earning trust of players and their agents, and setting up a reliable working relationship with Euroleague. ELPA had early achievements in improving the working conditions of players and concluding the groundbreaking EFA. The next phase will be about the solidification of ELPA’s role among different stakeholders, and about further professionalization and growth of ELPA and EuroLeague as a whole. EuroLeague has an enormous potential, which needs a strong players union to be realized fully.”

Bostjan Nachbar, ELPA Managing Director: “Alex has been ELPA’s key figure since day 1. He has devoted immense amount of time and energy to help establish the association, bring it on its feet and has worked tirelessly to help us reach ELPA’s first collective agreement. I am happy that he will now be joining us in an even bigger role. I am especially excited for the players, because I know that with Alex’s leadership we will be able to achieve more for them and for the association. I am also incredibly thankful to Anze Blazic for his invaluable contribution as ELPA’s first Secretary General and am very happy that he staying on as our new Operations Manager.”

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