Professor Parosha Chandran attended the Sports Lawyers Association Annual Conference in Chicago from 13 to 16 May 2026, joining over 1,200 sports lawyers and industry professionals from across the United States and internationally.

The conference theme, “Going Beyond the Game: Growing the Landscape of Sport,” provided a timely forum for discussion of the expanding legal, commercial and regulatory landscape of sport.

Professor Chandran’s attendance formed part of her developing work at the intersection of sports law, human rights, child rights, safeguarding, athlete protection, trafficking, exploitation, equality, governance and barriers to remedy.

During the conference, Professor Chandran met with leading sports lawyers and practitioners working across commercial sport, disputes, technology, athlete representation, governance and regulation.

During the conference she discussed the growing importance of human-rights-based approaches to sports governance in meetings with Arthur MacAfee III, President-Elect of the Sports Lawyers Association.

Professor Chandran said:

“Sport is one of the world’s most powerful social and cultural institutions. It can create opportunity, identity, community and belonging, but it can also expose children, athletes and workers to vulnerability, exclusion and exploitation. I am particularly interested in how sports law can develop stronger human-rights frameworks while respecting the legitimate autonomy and specificity of sport, and I look forward to working with colleagues in the US and UK to develop stronger protections by looking at sport through a human-rights lens.”

Professor Chandran’s work in this area builds on her internationally recognised expertise in human rights, human trafficking, modern slavery, child exploitation and victim protection, as well as her work on sports trafficking, athlete exploitation and safeguarding in sport.

She said the conference provided an important opportunity to engage with sports lawyers from the United States, the United Kingdom and internationally on how sports law can respond to emerging issues of dignity, power, vulnerability, participation, protection and remedy in sport.

Professor Chandran added:

“I leave Chicago encouraged by the openness of the conversations and convinced that human rights law has an important role to play in strengthening the protection of vulnerable athletes in today’s world. Sports law is already highly developed in many areas, but there is important work to be done in shaping legal protections and practical mechanisms that respond to vulnerability, exploitation, safeguarding issues and barriers to remedy. I look forward to contributing to that work with esteemed colleagues in the US, the UK and internationally.”

Photo: Professor Chandran in conversation with Arthur Macafee III, President Elect of the Sports Lawyers Association