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Under the aegis of collectively bargained agreements and similar arrangements, disputes between professional athletes and their clubs, as well as disputes between amateur athletes and the authorities that govern their sport, are ordinarily resolved by arbitration. Covington is at the forefront of those representations. For example, Covington lawyers routinely represent the NFL or NFL clubs in as many as six or eight such proceedings, which often involve full discovery and a trial-like process, each year. The most visible of those recent proceedings involves representation of the Falcons in their effort to recoup from Michael Vick nearly $20 million in bonuses paid before he defaulted on his player contract.
And Covington lawyers play an active role in international sports disputes. Since the early 1990’s, for example, Covington has represented IAAF, the world track and field federation. After a federal district court in Ohio enjoined IAAF from disqualifying world 400-meter record holder Butch Reynolds from competing in the Olympics and entered a $27 million judgment in Reynolds’ favor, Covington succeeded in overturning the orders. And when runner Mary Decker Slaney challenged her suspension from Olympic and other international competition, Covington successfully argued in a precedent-setting Seventh Circuit case that international federation dispute-resolution decisions cannot be re-litigated in US courts. Covington continues to assist the IAAF in controversies with national athletics federations, as well as many other doping disputes.
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