Page 22 - INSEA
P. 22
Legal Profile
Bertie Grobbelaar is an international lawyer specialising in commercial litigation, family law and
sport law.
He was admitted as an Attorney in the High Court of South Africa in February 1997 and obtained a
post graduate qualification in Sport Law in 2003. He is a partner and director of Van Velden Duffey
Attorneys in Rustenburg and currently serves as chairman of their board of directors.
As a sports lawyer, he represents amateur and professional players, coaches, referees and officials,
governing bodies of the sports industry, sport administrators, educational institutions and sports
facility owners and operators. Resent high profile clients include Stadium Management South
Africa and the ongoing labour dispute between renowned World Cup Referee Andre Watson and
the South African Rugby Union.
As counsel for professional sportsman and sport organizations he has an in depth understanding
of contract law, labour law, the law of delict and intellectual property law.
Through years of practice as a sports lawyer he has developed resilient contract negotiation and
drafting skills to represent professional sports industry clients.
He has experience in the contentious area of sports doping, the World Anti-Doping Code which
contains an unusual mix of public and private regulations and the representation of clients at the
international Court for Arbitration in Sport (CAS).
He is often a guest speaker on radio talks shows, advising and informing the public on diverse
matters ranging from delictual liability, to doping regulations to disciplinary action in sport.
Bertie is an avid sports enthusiast and coached rugby at amateur and schools provincial level.
He is assisting renowned coaches in setting up coaching and club management structures
internationally, the latest being the Sao Miguel Rugby Club Portugal in 2017.
Bertie also served on various bodies such as the Leopards Rugby Union (Pty) Ltd and still acts as
an advisory to several major sports associations and rights holders, such as North-West Hockey,
Rustenburg Impala Rugby Club and Rustenburg Athletico FC.
