Annual Conference

Manish BhasinConference Host

Manish Bhasin is a distinguished sports journalist and broadcaster, widely recognised for his work with the BBC and as a leading global presenter for the Premier League.

With a career spanning more than two decades, Manish is best known for his nine-year tenure at Premier League Productions, hosting official global matchday coverage to an estimated weekly audience of 700 million across over 180 countries.

In 2004, he made history as the youngest-ever regular host of BBC One’s Football Focus at just 27. He later spent six years as lead presenter of The Football League Show and has frequently fronted Match of the Day 2 and the BBC’s FA Cup highlights coverage.

Beyond football, Manish has served as the BBC’s primary cricket presenter, covering the Ashes and multiple ICC Cricket World Cups. He was also part of the BBC presenting team for the 2012 London Olympics and the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. His versatility sees him currently hosting for Sky News.

Manish also presents at major corporate and sporting events, including the PFA Awards. Named one of the most influential Asians in sport by The Daily Telegraph, he holds an Honorary Doctorate of Science from Anglia Ruskin University. A lifelong Leicester City supporter, he is an ambassador for The British Asian Trust and Show Racism The Red Card.

Paul PookSpeaker - The Risk of Suicide in Professional Sport

Paul Pook is a former professional rugby player and internationally respected high-performance coach and consultant. He served as National Fitness Coach with Ireland during their Grand Slam winning campaign and later worked across Olympic sports, including coaching athletes who became double Olympic gold medallists, giving him rare experience at the highest levels of both team and Olympic performance.

Paul is the author of Complete Conditioning for Rugby, a widely respected guide to physical preparation in rugby used by coaches and players around the world.

Drawing on his own lived experience of depression, suicidality, and a sport-related brain injury sustained through rugby, Paul is now the founder and CEO of Tackle Suicide CIC, a rugby-led wellbeing and suicide prevention initiative dedicated to protecting the mental health of current and former contact-sport athletes. In media interviews, including with the BBC and The Guardian, he has described himself as a “functioning suicidalist,” using his story to challenge stigma and encourage more open conversations about suicide. Through Tackle Suicide CIC, he advocates for earlier support, cultural change in sport, and greater recognition that brain health, mental health, and player welfare are inseparable.

Lauren VickerySpeaker - The Risk of Suicide in Professional Sport

Lauren Vickery is a psychotherapist working in private practice and with professional athletes across a range of sports. She is trained in Gestalt and sensorimotor (somatic) approaches and brings an integrative, evidence-informed perspective to her work. 

She is Co-Lead and Lead Psychotherapist at Tackle Suicide CIC, where she develops evidence-based interventions, leads research initiatives, and supports organisational delivery. Lauren also delivers professional training across sporting, education, and health settings. 

She specialises in trauma, eating disorders and addiction, alongside a wide range of other mental health presentations. With a keen interest in neuroscience, she believes in working with both mind and body, and her practice is grounded in client empowerment and resilience-building. She has expertise in supporting individuals affected by neurological conditions, chronic illness, and performance-related stress. 

Through her clinical work, Lauren has developed a strong interest in the psychological risks faced by athletes in contact sports, including injury, concussion, cultural expectations of toughness, and transitions out of sport. She is passionate about challenging harmful narratives around “mental strength” and promoting healthier approaches to wellbeing. 

Her work focuses on reducing stigma around suicide and encouraging open conversations. Guided by her ethos of being “human first, therapist second,” her goal is to protect players and protect the game. 

Alison O’DowdSpeaker - Spending Limits in Sport

Alison is an experienced professional sport administrator, specialising in regulatory and compliance matters, and has previously been the Head of Football Administration for the Premier League and Leeds United Football Club. She played a key role in the inception of the UEFA Licensing system within the Premier League, a precursor to the European governing body’s Financial Fair Play rules. At Leeds United, with the EFL leading on domestic implementation of a similar system, Alison was a Club representative in shaping the financial rules ahead of their 2012 introduction. 

Alison currently holds several sport appointments. She is a Football Association Judicial Panel Member, including as a Specialist Anti-Discrimination Panel Member, covering Disciplinary and Integrity cases, and Appeal Board hearings. She also serves on the British Horseracing Authority Judicial Panel, handling Disciplinary hearings, Riding and Placings appeals, and Licensing matters. In addition, Alison is a Specialist Arbitrator on the Sport Resolutions National Panel and a Football Member of the EFL Club Financial Review Panel (CFRP), an independently appointed expert panel ensuring consistency and independence in decisions relating to the Football League’s Financial Regulations. 

Andrew RogersSpeaker - Spending Limits in Sport

Andrew is the Salary Cap Director at PREM Rugby, where he leads financial regulation and compliance across England’s top-tier clubs. He is responsible for developing a world leading salary cap system that successfully defended a competition law challenge resulting in a landmark sports law decision.  In June 2025 he hosted the inaugural International Salary Cap Summit which brought together representatives from many of the world’s major sports talking all things salary cap. 

Andrew brings extensive experience in sports governance and financial oversight, having developed a strong reputation for diligence, transparency, and regulatory expertise.   

Beyond the salary cap, his role covers the wider regulatory and governance systems in the PREM, including the creation of a modern integrated compliance strategy covering areas such as the clubs financial monitoring system, commercial regulations and agents licensing.  Andrew also represents the PREM on number of high-profile boards, both nationally and internationally.   

Andrew is also a Director for Netball Players Association, supporting professional netball players into a new era of professionalism and driving standards around their employment rights.