Vanja Smokvina

Vanja Smokvina has a diverse work experience spanning various roles and organizations.

Starting in 2007, Smokvina worked as a Legal Trainee at Law Office Boskovic until 2010.

In 2008, Smokvina also served as a Court Interpreter for the Italian language at County Court Rijeka until 2019.

In 2009, Smokvina began a Research Assistant & Post-Doc Position at the University of Rijeka, Faculty of Law, which lasted until 2016.

From 2013 to 2017, Smokvina held the position of Honorary Visiting Research Associate at Edge Hill University's Centre for Sports Law Research.

In 2014, Smokvina became an Arbitrator of the Croatian Football Federation Arbitration Tribunal at Hrvatski nogometni savez.

Starting in 2017, Smokvina assumed the role of Vice Dean for Professional Study Affairs at the University of Rijeka, Faculty of Law.

Smokvina later became an Assistant Professor at the same institution from 2016 to 2021, then advanced to the position of Associate Professor in July 2021.

Since March 2021, Smokvina has served as the Head of the Sports Law, Sports Policy, and Sports Diplomacy Centre at the University of Rijeka, Faculty of Law.

Currently, Smokvina is the Editor In Chief of the Sports Law, Policy, and Diplomacy Journal and the Holder of the Jean Monnet Chair in EU Sports Law Policy & Diplomacy at the University of Rijeka, Faculty of Law.

Outside of academia, Smokvina has had affiliations with major sports organizations. Since 2019, Smokvina has been an Arbitrator (General list and Football list) for the Court of Arbitration for Sport. From 2019 to 2023, Smokvina has also been a Member of the Committee for Professional Sports Clubs at the Ministry of Tourism and Sport. Additionally, Smokvina worked as a Session Director for the UEFA Football Law Programme in 2019 and as an Arbitrator for UEFA.

Vanja Smokvina began their education at Prva riječka hrvatska gimnazija, a high school, from 1997 to 2001. They then pursued a Bachelor of Science (BSc) degree in Law at the University of Rijeka, Faculty of Law, Croatia, from 2001 to 2006. Subsequently, from 2008 to 2012, Vanja earned a PhD in Law Sciences from Evropska pravna fakulteta.