Willem-Alexander Devlies

Telephone:

+32 2 426 14 14

Email:

willem-alexander.devlies@altius.com

Willem-Alexander advises a wide range of Belgian and international clients on all aspects of sports law, including regulatory matters, disciplinary proceedings and employment-related disputes. He acts for athletes, clubs, intermediaries and sports federations, including legal representation before the Belgian state courts, the Royal Belgian Football Association (RBFA), the Belgian Court of Arbitration for Sport (BAS), the FIFA Football Tribunal and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne.

Willem-Alexander is also a member of the Dutch-speaking Chamber of First Instance within the Royal Belgian Pigeon Sports Association and he publishes and guest lectures on a regular basis in the field of sports law. Willem-Alexander is recognized yearly by Who’s Who Legal as a Global Leader in sports law and won the 2021 Lexology Client’s Choice Award for sports law in Belgium.

Prior to working at Altius, he gained international experience at the European Volleyball Federation (CEV) in Luxembourg, a renowned sports law firm in London and as an ad hoc clerk in sports arbitration proceedings before the CAS. He also practiced law for five years in a local law firm in Leuven.

Education

• Master of Laws (KU Leuven – KUL)
• Master of International Sports Law  (ISDE)

Languages

• Willem-Alexander is fluent in Dutch, English and French

Selection of publications

• “Case Law of the Belgian Court of Arbitration for Sport between (2012-2018) and of the Court of Arbitration for Sport with Belgian parties (1992-2018)”, 2021, SSRN
• “Advocaten en voetbalmakelaars: belang van het onderscheid”, 2021, Jubel
• “Vlaams sporttribunaal van start”, 2021, De Juristenkrant
• “The URBSFA’s decision not to grant Excelsior Virton a professional licence appears prima facie to be incompatible with Belgian competition law”, 2020, Football Legal
• “Technological fraud in cycling: the perceived success of the UCI’s action plan”, 2018, World Sports Advocate
• “The Sell-on Clause in Football: Recent Cases and Evolutions“, 2016, Yearbook on International Sports Arbitration 2015, T.M.C. Asser Press/Springer
• “UCI’s evolving approach to detecting technological fraud“, 2016, World Sports Law Report