A Swiss and Greek attorney (Ordre des Avocats Vaudois and Bar of Thessaloniki) based in Lausanne and practicing in the field of international sports law, Dr. Despina Mavromati provides legal advice to clubs, athletes and federations in contractual, disciplinary and governance matters and assists in the recognition and enforcement proceedings of arbitral awards.
She has been appointed as an arbitrator, counsel, co-counsel and expert witness in many high-profile sports arbitrations, which have resulted in landmark decisions in the sports world. She has a longstanding and in-depth knowledge of the mechanics of sports arbitration, obtained also through her previous position as Managing Counsel at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) until 2017.
Despina is an of Coursel at Valfor, a full-service law firm with offices in Lausanne/ Pully, Geneva, Bern, Zurich, Sion, Zoug and Brussels. She is a UEFA Club Financial Control Body Member (Appeals Chamber) and an Arbitrator at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). She was previously a member of the UEFA Appeals Body and sat as an arbitrator on the tribunals of major international federations (Chair of the IWF Ethics – and Disciplinary Commission; World Athletics Disciplinary Tribunal; International Tennis Federation Independent Tribunal; Gymnastics Ethics Foundation; International Powerlifting Federation Doping Hearing Panel).
Despina is the author of the critically acclaimed book “The Code of the Court of Arbitration for Sport: Commentary, Cases and Materials” that was published by Wolters Kluwer in 2015 (with Matthieu Reeb). She has been ranked as a WWL Thought Leader – Sports and Entertainment every year since 2018. She is a lecturer at the Law Faculty of the University of Fribourg (teaching sports contracts) and a former lecturer at the Law Faculty of the University of Lausanne (2017-2023).