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.

Dominique Leroux-LacroixSession 1 - WADA Code 2027 and the rise of SARMs

Dominique is a Canadian and Swiss attorney-at-law with a strong enthusiasm for sport. She is a graduate of McGill University Faculty of Law (B.C.L./LL.B.) and a member of the New York State Bar Association. 

She has been Head of Legal Affairs at the International Testing Agency since October 2018. Prior to this, she served as Head of Legal Anti-Doping Services at the Union Cycliste Internationale for seven years. 

She is member of the WADA Legal Expert Advisory Group and of the drafting team for the International Standard for Results Management.   

Dominique has developed in-depth expertise in anti-doping and its legal framework and complexities. 

Prof. Margo MountjoySession 1 - WADA Code 2027 and the rise of SARMs

MD, PhD, FCAHS, CCFP(SEM), FCFP, FACSM, Dip Sport Med. 

Margo received her medical education and her family medicine training at McMaster University, Canada and her sports medicine specialty degree in Ottawa, Canada. Margo received her PhD from the VU University in Amsterdam. Margo was the medical and scientific lead at the Health & Performance Centre at the University of Guelph where she focussed her practice on promoting elite athlete care and physical activity promotion in the general population. In addition, Margo has acted as the national team physician for Synchro Canada for 20 years as well as for the National Endurance Training Centre Athletes (middle- and long-distance track athletes) and the National Triathlon & Wrestling team training centres.

Margo is a Clinical Professor in the Faculty of Family Medicine in the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine, McMaster University, Canada where she is the former Regional Assistant Dean of the Waterloo Regional Campus.

Margo is the Chair of the ASOIF Medical Consultative Group and a member of the IOC Medical Commission Games Group. She currently consults for 5 International Federations:  FIFA, International Golf, World Netball, Sport Climbing and World Rugby. She has served on judicial panels for World Rugby. Margo’s areas of research focus on elite athlete health and well-being.

Prof. Susan Backhouse Session 1 - WADA Code 2027 and the rise of SARMs

Professor Susan Backhouse is Director of Research and Knowledge Exchange in the Carnegie School of Sport at Leeds Beckett University. An interdisciplinary researcher and behavioural scientist, Susan specialises in sporting integrity and athlete welfare, with a particular focus on doping and clean sport behaviours. Her work sits at the intersection of research, policy, and practice, supporting fair, safe, and ethical sport systems. 

Susan serves as an expert advisor to the World Anti Doping Agency (WADA) Social Science Research Expert Advisory Group and is Chair of the WADA Taskforce on Unintentional Doping. In the UK, she is a member of the Chartered Association of Sport and Exercise Sciences (CASES) Integrity Advisory Group. 

She has published extensively in peer reviewed journals, supported doctoral and early career researchers, and led collaborative projects with the sport sector. Most recently, her work has involved partnerships with the Athletics Integrity Unit, the International Tennis Integrity Agency, and World Rugby. Susan is widely recognised for translating research into practical guidance that informs policy, regulation, and professional practice.

Paul PookSession 2 - 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 VickerySession 2 - 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. 

Stuart Miller Session 3 - International Federations in a complex world

Stuart Miller is the Senior Executive Director, Integrity & Legal, for the International Tennis Federation (soon to become World Tennis). Following a short career in academia, Stuart joined the ITF in 2001 as its Technical Manager. Among his current responsibilities are governance, the Rules of Tennis, safeguarding, officiating, science and medicine, and equipment research, testing and approval. He oversees the ITF Legal Team, for which he must have done something bad in a former life. He was also responsible for the ITF Development Department for several years. 

Stuart has worked on several cross-governing body projects, including management of the tennis-wide anti-doping programme, and acting as an advisor to the ITF's member of the International Tennis Integrity Agency's Board of Directors. He is the ITF's representative for tennis' main social media abuse protection programme.  

Sara María MorenoSession 3 - International Federations in a complex world

Sara María Moreno is Senior Legal Advisor at the Fédération Internationale de Motocyclisme (FIM) and a lawyer admitted to practice in France and Peru. At the FIM, she plays a central role in sport governance and integrity, advising on regulatory and compliance matters at an international level. She is responsible for the management of Ethical Chamber cases, leads the implementation of the FIM Safeguarding Framework, and oversees the federation’s anti doping results management. 

Mikael RentschSession 3 - International Federations in a complex world

Mikael Rentsch is the Legal Director of the Fédération Equestre Internationale (FEI), the international governing body for equestrian sport. Based at the FEI Headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, he leads the organisation’s Legal Department and advises on a wide range of legal and governance matters affecting the global equestrian community. 

In his role, he provides strategic legal guidance to the FEI leadership, supporting the development and implementation of the federation’s regulatory framework across its disciplines. His work covers areas including sports governance, disciplinary and integrity proceedings, commercial agreements, safeguarding athlete welfare and the level playing field, and the legal aspects of major international events. 

Mikael works closely with FEI Departments, National Federations, Organisers, and external stakeholders to ensure that the federation’s activities are conducted in accordance with international standards and best practice in sports governance. He also supports the legal and regulatory environment underpinning the FEI’s role in the Olympic and Paralympic Games. 

Mikael is also a member of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS) and a member of the ASOIF Legal Consultative Group.

Alison O’DowdSession 4 - 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 RogersSession 4 - 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.