Barry is a sports lawyer with over a decade of experience at the forefront of international sport. He has held senior legal roles with FIFA, the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA), the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation (SAFF), advising on some of the biggest competitions and projects in world sport.

Barry has advised as lead lawyer on a range of historic and landmark projects, including:

• the creation of the FIA Formula One Financial Regulations;

• Saudi Arabia’s successful bid to host the AFC Asian Cup 2027;

• the privatisation and restructuring of major football clubs;

• the financial regulation of sports clubs; and

• the creation of the first-ever Saudi footballers’ union.

Barry has particular expertise in the regulation and governance of football, playing a key role in major initiatives such as:

• leading the disciplinary, integrity and anti-doping programmes at major competitions such as the AFC Asian Cup and AFC Champions League;

• investigating and prosecuting hundreds of breaches of FIFA and AFC regulations;

• drafting regulations for new competitions, such as the AFC Champions League Elite;

• regulating the USD 10bn global transfer market at FIFA TMS; and

• implementing the FIFA Football Agent Regulations.

A trusted advisor and skilled advocate, Barry has successfully represented stakeholders before a range of sports arbitration bodies. He is a qualified solicitor in Ireland, England and Wales, served as Deputy Secretary to the AFC judicial committees and sits on various judicial bodies of the International Paralympic Committee.

Barry is also a published author and speaker in sports law, having lectured for prominent organisations such as the Law Society of Ireland, the British Association for Sport and Law and the International Football Business Institute. His articles have appeared in leading sports law publications such as Football Legal, Law In Sport and the World Sports Law Report.

He holds a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Sports Law and Practice, awarded with Distinction, from De Montfort University. He also won the Sky Sports Prize for Best Sports Law and Practice Dissertation.

Barry works fluently in his native English as well as French, with proficiency in German, Danish and Irish.