Chris Farnell acted on the 2023 transfer of Eric Bailly (left) from Manchester United to Beskitas
Photo: IPS Law X account
The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) yesterday closed down the practice of a high-profile sports lawyer who has acted for the likes of Cristiano Ronaldo and Tyson Fury.
The regulator said it had decided to intervene in Chesire firm IPS Law because there was “reason to suspect dishonesty” on the part of founder Chris Farnell.
It said the solicitor had failed to comply with the SRA principles, accounts rules and codes of conduct.
Carl Johnson of Stephensons in Wigan has been appointed as the intervening agent.
Mr Farnell played for Blackburn Rovers reserves as a teenager until a knee injury forced him to quit the game.
Having been a partner at Hill Dickinson, he set up IPS Law – which stands for Intellectual Property in Sport – in 2006.
The IPS website said Mr Farnell acted for Cristiano Ronaldo on commercial matters during his time in the UK, Roberto Martinez in his dispute with Everton after his sacking and then his appointments to manage first the Belgian and then Portuguese national teams, and on the sale of Swansea City to its new owners in 2016.
He has also represented the former world heavyweight champion Tyson Fury.
Mr Farnell previously said he brought together the Football Association with Fabio Capello when the former was looking for a new England manager.
The solicitor has found himself in the middle of various disputes. In 2020, he successfully appealed an EFL ban on owning a club after an attempted takeover at Charlton Athletic with a businessman
IPS recorded that the league arbitration panel found he had given “an honest and fair account with all of his evidence” and there was no suggestion of any wrongdoing.
He has also been linked with other club takeovers, such as Bury and Burnley, while more recently has been in dispute with his former client and a litigation funder over ‘Project Red Card’, proposed claims over the allegedly unlawful collection and use of footballers’ performance data by gaming, betting and data processing companies.
A year ago, IPS failed to convince the High Court to restrain the funder from advertising a winding-up petition over a loan it has not repaid. It was reported soon after that the dispute settled.
Earlier this year, the Senior Costs Judge held that IPS had a commercial, rather than a solicitor-client, relationship with the company building the claim.
Judge Rowley rejected the claim that there was an implied retainer and that IPS was owed costs of £370,000 after they stopped working together.
