Manvendra Singh Jadon, founder of India’s first multidisciplinary sports journal, known as the Journal of Sports Law, Policy and Governance and its blog, the Extra-Cover. He is also an LL.M. (Intellectual Property Law) student at NALSAR University of Law. He has been interviewed by EBC/SCC Online Student Ambassador Ankit Mishra
Question 1: How Would You Like To Introduce Yourself To The Readers?
I am Manvendra Singh Jadon, an LL.M. (Intellectual Property Law) student at NALSAR University of Law and a sports law enthusiast who has been active in the field for over four years now. I am also the founder of India’s first multidisciplinary sports journal, known as the Journal of Sports Law, Policy and Governance and its blog, the Extra-Cover. I completed my undergraduate law studies from National Law University and Judicial Academy Assam. My interests pertain to Sports Law (more specifically, Football Law and Global Sports Governance), and Intellectual Property Rights Law.
Question 2: What Made You Interested And Rather Prompted You To Pursue Your Passion Towards Sports Law?
I took up boxing as my preferred sport during my early secondary school days. It was during this period that I developed a special interest in sports per se. Although I dropped out of competitive sports at the end of my senior school, the passion for sports, in general, continued to prosper. Later in the law school, I was introduced to the field of sports law, by a chance reading of the infamous Hockey India-Indian Hockey Federation dispute. I got so captivated by the world of sports law, that I later went onto present a few quality papers on sports law in international conferences and thereafter had internship stints with a few sports law firms and departments in India.
Question 3: When were the seeds of founding JSLPG sown? OR What was the inspiration for coming up with JSLPG?
This was probably after I interned at Krida Legal, Delhi in 2016. During my internship, I was quite shocked to find that there was a dearth of home-grown legal scholarship on sports apart from the seminal work written by Mr Vidushpat Singhania and Ms Aahna Mehrotra called ‘Law and Sports in India’. In fact, most of the Indian sports law experts and practitioners used to write for international publications such as LawinSport and International Sports Law Journal and this created a lacuna of some sort for the budding sports law enthusiasts to look forward in publishing their Indian centric work. Our teams’ basic agenda with JSLPG was to give a platform for the Indian sports law enthusiasts to voice their opinions and research. Although we initially wanted to make the Journal law specific, we decided to allow submissions on sports policy and sports governance, given the contemporary relevance of these areas. After starting this Journal with the support of a few passionate colleagues, our managing editor, Angshuman Hazarika (Currently a Research Associate at Universität des Saarlandes), student editors Ishwar Singh Punia (NLSIU), Saranya Mishra (ILS Pune, Khaitan& Co.), Prateek Srivastava (GNLU), Manasvi Tewari (Law Researcher at P&H High Court), Anshuman Sahoo (Advocate) etc.and the patronage of National Law University, Assam, we are finally looking forward towards publishing our third issue.
Question 4: How has your experience been in the field of sports law?
It has been wonderful. I had the occasion to get in liaison and work on Journal with the best in the trade. I have plans to pursue an academic career in sports law in the future, and infact, my LL.M. dissertation deals with critical intellectual property law issues in e-sports. The experience has been beautiful till now and I look forward towards doing my fair share of work in this field, before embarking on a career in sports law.
Question 5: What are the career opportunities for law students and freshers in sports law?
International Center for Sports Studies (CIES(football-specific) and ISDE, Madrid provides wonderful opportunities for sports law geeks. Nottingham Trent, Escuela Universitaria Real Madrid and Melbourne Law School also have sought after programs in sports law.I would also like to invite passionate students to work pro-bono with our Journal and blog, for gaining insights into the field of sports law, before starting their journey in this niche area of law.
Question 8: On a parting note, a few pearls of wisdom, you would want to share with the readers.
I would just say, keep working towards your goals and objectives, without getting diverted and affected by the world around you. Everyone works at their own pace, and hence patience, perseverance and persistence are the virtues, one should definitely look forward to in their approach towards career and life goals. Be open to learning from others and always keep doing new things, ones that keep you interested.
P.S. JSLPG has currently issued the Call for Papers for the submissions in the upcoming Vol II, Iss. I here. Also, if someone is interested in writing blog pieces, please head over to the Call for Blogs here.
