Sigma Srl v. Maksym Shulga

Ukrainian college basketball player Maksym Shulga signed an exclusive representation agreement with Italian agency Sigma Srl in September 2022, covering Name, Image and Likeness (NIL) opportunities through 31 August 2024. After Shulga's 2023–24 season at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU), he asked Sigma to explore transfer options for the following year. Sigma delivered: it negotiated a Letter of Intent with "Friends of Nova," an NIL collective connected to Villanova University, offering Shulga up to $900,000 in NIL compensation, of which no less than $180,000 was guaranteed regardless of performance. Shulga signed that Letter of Intent on 9 May 2024.

Then, in late May 2024, Shulga reversed course. He chose to remain at VCU instead, having personally negotiated what was reported as an even larger NIL offer there — without Sigma's knowledge or involvement, and while his exclusivity agreement with Sigma was still in force.

Sigma brought a claim before the FIBA Basketball Arbitral Tribunal, with Sole Arbitrator Benny Lo appointed on 17 January 2025. Shulga argued the exclusivity clause did not cover his own, self-directed negotiations, only deals arranged through other agents. The Arbitrator rejected that reading outright, holding that a narrow interpretation permitting self-representation would "render the exclusivity provision meaningless or allow for its circumvention through formalistic distinctions." The Arbitrator also addressed a timing argument: even though the VCU deal that actually replaced the Villanova offer may have been finalised close to or after the exclusivity period's own boundaries, the negotiations that undid the Villanova deal took place during the agreement's term — and, citing the Tribunal's own precedent in BAT 1231/18, held that negotiating a competing deal during the exclusivity period is itself a breach, regardless of exactly when the resulting contract is formally signed.

The Arbitrator ordered Shulga to pay Sigma USD 180,000 net of any bank or wire fees — anchored to the guaranteed minimum value of the Villanova deal Sigma had actually secured for him before he walked away from it — together with 5% annual interest on any outstanding balance. Shulga was also ordered to bear the full costs of the arbitration: reimbursing Sigma EUR 9,000 for arbitration costs, paying a further EUR 7,500 contribution toward Sigma's legal fees, and reimbursing EUR 4,000 for Sigma's non-reimbursable handling fee.