A high profile commercial lawyer has swapped his leading role as the Senior Solicitor at The FA Group in London to join the Welsh Rugby Union as Head of Legal Affairs.

A high profile commercial lawyer has swapped his leading role as the Senior Solicitor at The FA Group in London to join the Welsh Rugby Union as Head of Legal Affairs.

Rhodri Lewis, 33, will now oversee all legal activity at the WRU, including multi-million pound broadcast contracts; commercial and sponsorship agreements; player agreements and personal employment negotiations.

He will also join the Executive Board of the WRU and will be involved in key senior management decisions regarding the operational and strategic running of the WRU.

Rhodri’s previous role at The FA Group involved managing a team of lawyers and working on a broad range of commercial legal work across The Football Association’s sports activity and Wembley Stadium events.

Before joining The FA Group, Rhodri was a Legal Counsel at UEFA, the European football governing body based in Switzerland, where he was responsible for a wide range of commercial legal matters across all of UEFA’s competitions.

In addition to his commercial legal work, Rhodri worked on site at the FIFA World Cup 2006, UEFA EURO 2008 and managed stadia for UEFA Champions League matches, gaining valuable experience of high profile sporting events.

He trained and qualified as a corporate lawyer at the prestigious law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London, where he advised the London 2012 Olympic bid team.

A father of two, Rhodri is originally from Dinas Powys and was educated at Ysgol Gyfun Gymraeg Glantaf, before gaining a law degree from King’s College London and completing his Legal Practice Course at Nottingham Law School.

Rhodri, a passionate rugby fan, is a fluent Welsh speaker and former member of the Dinas Powys youth rugby team. He has also played rugby in London, Hong Kong, Bangkok, Australia and Switzerland.

Lewis will be based at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff and will report directly to the Group Chief Executive of the WRU, Roger Lewis.

Roger Lewis said: “We are delighted to have secured the services of someone with Rhodri’s expertise matched with such relevant and appropriate experience for this highly important role.

“He has a fine pedigree as a commercial lawyer working at the highest level in a variety of sporting environments so he fully understands the pressures and opportunities we operate within at the WRU.

“These are exciting times in Welsh rugby with our financial performance proving a positive foundation for the game in Wales while the Rugby World Cup now just over a year away.

“The WRU now operates corporately to a five-year strategic plan and Rhodri will play a vital role in ensuring we continue to deliver on our aspirations and opportunities with proper legal diligence.

“Rhodri’s sporting and legal credentials speak for themselves and he joins us armed with a true understanding of the day to day and long term demands a governing body has to face.

“This is an extremely busy era for Welsh rugby and I am delighted that we now have a complete and experienced executive team in place to steer our national sport forward.

“He has been recruited to replace Mike Jefferies who died tragically a year ago and we all know how Mike set the standard for this important role which I know is now in very safe hands indeed.

“In recent months we have been working even more closely with the Hugh James law firm and I would also like to publicly thank them for their continued support.”

Rhodri said: “I am delighted to be joining the Welsh Rugby Union in a role within which I can make a positive difference to the future of our national sport.

“Having worked at UEFA and The FA, I am determined to bring my experience and knowledge of high-profile sport and understanding of the relevant legal issues into play with the WRU.

“The brand of Welsh rugby is recognised throughout the world and it is vitally important we protect that stature and utilise the opportunities it affords us as a governing body.

“There is an extremely positive buzz around the game in Wales at the moment and I know I am joining the WRU at a very exciting time.

“As Head of Legal Affairs, I am looking forward to being involved in decision making at a variety of levels within the organisation. Being a proud Welshman, it is great to be back in Wales.”