Jorge Esteban Ibarrola

Founding Partner
Attorney-at-law | LL.M.
Mediator SBA | CEDR | IEMEDEP | CEDR

Jorge Ibarrola is a Swiss qualified Attorney-at-Law specialising in the legal representation, consulting and mediation for sports and business clients. After more than four years of experience as Counsel for the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), he created his private practice in 2007 in Lausanne, which expanded in 2009 with the foundation of Libra Law. Jorge Ibarrola advises and represents in particular, clients from the world of sport, such as national and international sports federations, football clubs, athletes and players, coaches and agents, as well as sponsors, events organisers, etc. He proceeds as counsel in international arbitration proceedings, notably before the CAS, and in ordinary judiciary proceedings before Swiss courts, including the Swiss Federal Tribunal. He is also an Accredited Mediator (SBA, CEDR and IEMEDEP), sworn by the Cantonal Tribunal of Vaud.

1992       Law degree, University of Lausanne

1994       Master’s of law (LL.M.), McGill University

1996       Admission to Swiss Bar

1998       Tax Administration (Vaud)

2000       UBS (Wealth & Tax Planner)

2002       KPMG (Tax Manager)

2003       Court of Arbitration for Sport (Counsel)

2007       Ibarrola Sports International Law (Founding Partner)

2009       Libra Law (Founding Partner)

2009       Master in International Sport Law, ISDE, Madrid, Spain

2019       CEDR Accredited Mediator, London

2022       IEMEDEP Accreditied Mediator, Madrid

2022       FIFA Mediator

2023       SBA (Swiss Bar association) accreditded Mediator, sworn by the Tribunal Vaud

  • Sports law (contracts, ethics and disciplinary, doping, governance, employment law, mediation, etc.)
  • Litigation (arbitration and ordinary courts, at national and international levels)
  • Mediation in sports, contracts and business disputes
  • Employment, commercial, contract and corporate law
  • Individual tax law
  • Intellectual property
  • Board of Directors
  • Arbitration (as arbitrator and counsel)

President of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Tribunal

  • President of the Disciplinary Chamber and Sole Judge for disciplinary matters of Swiss Basketball
  • FIFA Mediator
  • Swiss Sports Law Association: member of the Committee, organiser of the “Soirées de droit du sport romandes” since 2015
  • President of the Sports law Commission of the Vaud Bar Association
  • Invited professor at the Institut Nacional d’Educació Física de Catalunya (INEFC), in LL.M. programs in International Sports law held in Lleida, Barcelona, Doha and Medellin.
  • Invited Professor at the Instituto Superior de Derecho Económico (ISDE), Master’s program in International Sport law, in Madrid.
  • Invited Professor at AISTS, Lausanne, Master program in Advanced Studies in Sport Administration and Technology
  • Invited lecturer at several international sports law conferences
  • Swiss & Vaud Bar associations (SBA & OAV)
  • Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA)
  • Club Español de Arbitraje (CEA)
  • Swiss Sports Law Association (ASDS)
  • Rex Sport
  • CEDR
  • IEMEDEP

 

  • Recursos ante el Tribunal Federal Suizo contra los laudos del TAS, in El Arbitraje en el TAS, Capitulo 18, Thomson Reuters Aranzadi, Navarra, España, 2021
  • Football Law, Chapter 10 of the Handbook of the Football Association Management, 4th edition, UEFA Academy, 2021.
  • What Does The Singapore Convention Mean For The Future Of International Sports Mediation? In LawInSport, 11 September 2020
  • Selected Recent Procedural Issues Arising In CAS Arbitral Proceedings, in New Developments in “International Commercial Arbitration 2018”, Satämpfli Editions, UNINE, 2018.
  • La Extinción del Contrato de Deportista en Suiza, in La extinción del contrato del deportista en Europa y Latinoamérica”, Madrid, 2017
  • Comment of the award CAS 2015/A/4137 Olympique Lyonnais v. AS Roma, Award of 16 November 2015, in Football Legal # 7 June 2017
  • Comment on award CAS 2015/A/4351, Vsl Pakruojo FK, Darius Jankauskas, Armas Mikaitis, Sigitas Olberkis, Valdas Pocevicius, Alfredas Skroblas, Donatas Strockis, Diogo Gouveia Miranda, C.H. Alexandru, Taras Michailiuk v. Lithuanian Football Federation, Award of 13 July 2016, in Duval and A. Rigozzi (eds.), Yearbook of International Sports Arbitration 2016
  • Contador: burden of proof & presumption of culpability, worldsportslawreport 04/12, London, 2014
  • The CAS Ad Hoc Division at the Olympic Games: What Might Happen in Sotchi, Favorit Magazine (published in Russian), 2013
  • La carga de la prueba y la presunción, El País, Madrid, 2012
  • Participation after serving a doping ban: Dehiba case, worldsportslawreport 08/11, London, 2011
  • La jurisprudence du TAS en matière de football – questions de procédure et de droit de fond, in “The Proceedings before the Court of Arbitration for Sport”, CAS & FSA/SAV Conference, Weblaw, Berne, 2007
  • Les prix imposés de revente : étude de droit comparé des Etats-Unis, du Canada, de la Suisse et de la Communauté européenne, M. thesis, McGill, Montreal 1995

Jorge Ibarrola is a Swiss qualified Attorney-at-Law specialising in the legal representation, consulting and mediation for sports and business clients. After more than four years of experience as Counsel for the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), he created his private practice in 2007 in Lausanne, which expanded in 2009 with the foundation of Libra Law. Jorge Ibarrola advises and represents in particular, clients from the world of sport, such as national and international sports federations, football clubs, athletes and players, coaches and agents, as well as sponsors, events organisers, etc. He proceeds as counsel in international arbitration proceedings, notably before the CAS, and in ordinary judiciary proceedings before Swiss courts, including the Swiss Federal Tribunal. He is also an Accredited Mediator (SBA, CEDR and IEMEDEP), sworn by the Cantonal Tribunal of Vaud.

1992       Law degree, University of Lausanne

1994       Master’s of law (LL.M.), McGill University

1996       Admission to Swiss Bar

1998       Tax Administration (Vaud)

2000       UBS (Wealth & Tax Planner)

2002       KPMG (Tax Manager)

2003       Court of Arbitration for Sport (Counsel)

2007       Ibarrola Sports International Law (Founding Partner)

2009       Libra Law (Founding Partner)

2009       Master in International Sport Law, ISDE, Madrid, Spain

2019       CEDR Accredited Mediator, London

2022       IEMEDEP Accreditied Mediator, Madrid

2022       FIFA Mediator

2023       SBA (Swiss Bar association) accreditded Mediator, sworn by the Tribunal Vaud

  • Sports law (contracts, ethics and disciplinary, doping, governance, employment law, mediation, etc.)
  • Litigation (arbitration and ordinary courts, at national and international levels)
  • Mediation in sports, contracts and business disputes
  • Employment, commercial, contract and corporate law
  • Individual tax law
  • Intellectual property
  • Board of Directors
  • Arbitration (as arbitrator and counsel)

President of the International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) Tribunal

  • President of the Disciplinary Chamber and Sole Judge for disciplinary matters of Swiss Basketball
  • FIFA Mediator
  • Swiss Sports Law Association: member of the Committee, organiser of the “Soirées de droit du sport romandes” since 2015
  • President of the Sports law Commission of the Vaud Bar Association
  • Invited professor at the Institut Nacional d’Educació Física de Catalunya (INEFC), in LL.M. programs in International Sports law held in Lleida, Barcelona, Doha and Medellin.
  • Invited Professor at the Instituto Superior de Derecho Económico (ISDE), Master’s program in International Sport law, in Madrid.
  • Invited Professor at AISTS, Lausanne, Master program in Advanced Studies in Sport Administration and Technology
  • Invited lecturer at several international sports law conferences
  • Swiss & Vaud Bar associations (SBA & OAV)
  • Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA)
  • Club Español de Arbitraje (CEA)
  • Swiss Sports Law Association (ASDS)
  • Rex Sport
  • CEDR
  • IEMEDEP

 

  • Recursos ante el Tribunal Federal Suizo contra los laudos del TAS, in El Arbitraje en el TAS, Capitulo 18, Thomson Reuters Aranzadi, Navarra, España, 2021
  • Football Law, Chapter 10 of the Handbook of the Football Association Management, 4th edition, UEFA Academy, 2021.
  • What Does The Singapore Convention Mean For The Future Of International Sports Mediation? In LawInSport, 11 September 2020
  • Selected Recent Procedural Issues Arising In CAS Arbitral Proceedings, in New Developments in “International Commercial Arbitration 2018”, Satämpfli Editions, UNINE, 2018.
  • La Extinción del Contrato de Deportista en Suiza, in La extinción del contrato del deportista en Europa y Latinoamérica”, Madrid, 2017
  • Comment of the award CAS 2015/A/4137 Olympique Lyonnais v. AS Roma, Award of 16 November 2015, in Football Legal # 7 June 2017
  • Comment on award CAS 2015/A/4351, Vsl Pakruojo FK, Darius Jankauskas, Armas Mikaitis, Sigitas Olberkis, Valdas Pocevicius, Alfredas Skroblas, Donatas Strockis, Diogo Gouveia Miranda, C.H. Alexandru, Taras Michailiuk v. Lithuanian Football Federation, Award of 13 July 2016, in Duval and A. Rigozzi (eds.), Yearbook of International Sports Arbitration 2016
  • Contador: burden of proof & presumption of culpability, worldsportslawreport 04/12, London, 2014
  • The CAS Ad Hoc Division at the Olympic Games: What Might Happen in Sotchi, Favorit Magazine (published in Russian), 2013
  • La carga de la prueba y la presunción, El País, Madrid, 2012
  • Participation after serving a doping ban: Dehiba case, worldsportslawreport 08/11, London, 2011
  • La jurisprudence du TAS en matière de football – questions de procédure et de droit de fond, in “The Proceedings before the Court of Arbitration for Sport”, CAS & FSA/SAV Conference, Weblaw, Berne, 2007
  • Les prix imposés de revente : étude de droit comparé des Etats-Unis, du Canada, de la Suisse et de la Communauté européenne, M. thesis, McGill, Montreal 1995