About me
Specialist Lawyer for Sports Law Marc Patrick Schneider, MBA (Wales)
Born in 1977. Studied law in Mainz (Rhineland Palatinate, Germany) and Siena (Tuscany, Italy). Passed the second state examination in law in 2005 and completed postgraduate studies in financial management (MBA, University of Wales) in 2008. Participated in the first specialist lawyer training course in sports law in Cologne in 2019 and was awarded the title of Specialist Lawyer for Sports Law by the Munich Bar Association in 2020.
Focus on sports law: For over 15 years. Focus on sports: Always!
Initially, I worked as a lawyer in a renowned Frankfurt capital markets boutique, specializing in the structuring and issuance of derivative financial products. In 2008/2009, I completed a secondment at the investment bank Morgan Stanley in the structured products division. Following my studies in sports law at the University of Hagen in 2006 and my first sports financing projects, I founded my own law firm in 2011, focusing exclusively on sports, sports-related financing projects, and equestrian law. From 2013 onwards, I provided long-term support (Of Counsel) to the team at the sports law firm Lentze Stopper in Munich.
Special areas of expertise: law of associations, structuring & financing, integrity violations and arbitration
Sports CV: Tennis, Football, Volleyball, American Football, Triathlon, Golf.
Teaching assignments
University of Applied Management, Munich/Ismaning, Master's program in Sports Journalism, teaching in the field of media law and press law as well as sports policy, economics and media.
International Football Institute, Munich/Ismaning, study programs in sports management and football management (BA, MA).
Bavarian State Research Center for Agriculture ("Landeanstalt für Landwirtschaft" - LfL), Advanced training for the master of horse management.
Publications (selection)
Handbook on Sports Antitrust Law
Stopper/Schneider/Bischoff, Announcement 2026, ISBN 978-3-406-83904-7
Practical Handbook Law of Associations with special focus on sports
Jakob/Orth/Stopper, 1st Edition 2021, C.H. Beck
Handbook Football Law
Stopper/Lentze, 3rd Edition 2025, Erich Schmidt Verlag
Form Book Sports Law
Schimke, 1st Edition 2021, C.H. Beck
Law and Sport ("RuS"), Human Rights and Values in Sport
Fairness und Fairplay (RuS, Edition 53, p. 95 et seq.)
Law an Sport ("RuS"), Legal Issues in Sports Financing
Third-Party Ownership (RuS, Edition 48, p. 19 et seq.)
Schneider, SpoPrax 2022, p. 172 et seq.
Mergers as an Option for Restructuring and a Lifeline for Sports Clubs
Schneider, SpoPrax 2025, p. 319 et seq.
Conducting the federation's general meeting - a handbook
Schneider/Karlin, SpuRt 2021, p. 21 et seq.
Club Financing vs. Third Party Ownership 2.0
Schneider/Bischoff, SpuRt 2021, p. 54 et seq.
Emergency Legal Protection in Sports
Schneider/Bischoff, ZStV 2020, p. 153 et seq.
Virtual General Meetings during COVID-19
Other sports-related Activities
Further involvement (among others): Board member of the German Volleyball Association ("Deutscher Volleyball-Verband" - DVV); Vice Chairman of the German Volleyball Foundation ("Stiftung Deutscher Volleyball" - SDV); President of the Joint Development of American Football e.V.; Competition Committee (Chairman) of the American Football League Europe (AFLE); Competition Committee (Chairman) of HYROX; Managing Director of the Center for Arbitration and Law in Sport gUG (limited liability); Member of the Editorial Board of the journal SpoPrax – Sports Law and E-Sports Law in Practice; Member of the Advisory Board of the German Association for Sports Law ("Deutsche Vereinigung für Sportrecht" - DVSR).
Memberships (among others): German Association for Sports Law ("Deutsche Vereinigung für Sportrecht" - DVSR); Working Group ("Arbeitsgemeinschaft" - ARGE) Sports Law within the German Bar Association (DAV).
Awards (among others): Handelsblatt/WirtschaftsWoche, recommendations as TOP lawyer for sports law 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 and 2026; WirtschaftsWoche, Legal All Star 2023 in the category of sports law (2nd place).
Speaker activities (selection 2022 to 2025): 6th Sports Lawyers' Day ARGE Sportrecht (Berlin, November 14, 2025, "Best of Association Law 2025"); Sports Law Summit 2025 (Unterföhring, October 9, 2025, "New Paths in Sports Arbitration – The Center for Arbitration and Law in Sports' System as an Innovative Alternative"); DICO Forum 2025 (Berlin, September 30, 2025, "Compliance in Sports Organizations"); GBJA Conference 2025 (Etihad Stadium Manchester, September 19, 2025, "Multiple Club Ownership"); 5th Sports Lawyers' Day ARGE Sportrecht (Berlin, November 15, 2024, "Best of Association Law 2024"); Sports Law Summit 2024 (Frankfurt, September 26, 2024, "Sports Innovations – From Trend to Olympics"); Annual Conference of the German Association for Sports Law (Tegernsee, September 14, 2024, "Fairness and Fair Play in Literature and Case Law"); Horse Farming (Online, December 4, 2023, "Economical Management in Horse Farming"); 4th Sports Lawyers' Day of the ARGE Sports Law (Berlin, November 17, 2023, "Best of Association Law 2023"); 2nd FORUM Sports Law Summit 2023 (Cologne, October 16, 2023, "Section 32 of the German Civil Code (New) – Practical Experiences with Hybrid and Virtual General Meetings"); 19th German Equestrian Law Conference (Kassel, June 23, 2023, "Animal Welfare-Oriented Arbitration"); Equestrian Business (Online, June 14, 2023, "Economic Management in Equestrian Businesses"); wfv Sports Law Conference (Wangen, January 27, 2023, "Economic Rights of Players: Shareholdings and Financing Models"); 1st FORUM Sports Law Summit 2022 (Wiesbaden, December 12, 2022, "Sports Organization and Pyramidal Association Structure – Challenges for and Because of the Super League, LIV Golf, ELF & Co."); 3rd Sports Lawyers' Day ARGE Sports Law (Berlin, November 18, 2022) “Amendments to Articles of Association – Law, Strategy, Politics”; Forum Pferdebetrieb (Pferd Bodensee Trade Fair, October 14, 2022, “The Boarding Contract from a Legal Perspective”); Working Group Pferd (Merching, July 20, 2022, “Boarding Stable & Association: Demarcation and Creating a Win-Win Situation”); 5th Hamburg Sports Law Day (Hamburg, April 28, 2022, “Legal Issues of the Structure and Financing of Sports Clubs and Associations”); Sports Law Conference AG Sportrecht (Cologne, April 2, 2022, “Introduction to Equine Law”)
Regular (annual) continuing education courses (among others): Sports Lawyers' Day and Sports Law Conference (both organized by the German Bar Association/Working Group on Sports Law), FORUM Sports Law Summit, Association Law Day, Horse Law Day
Other: Licensed FIFA Football Agent (since April 29, 2023); Managing Director of MPS Sports UG (limited liability); 2020-2023 Chairman of the Supervisory Board of FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin Lichterfelde-Tempelhof eV, FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin Fußball GmbH, and FC Viktoria 1889 Berlin Frauen-Fußball GmbH; 2021-2025 Competition Committee (Chairman) as the supreme legal/sports court body of the European League of Football (ELF)