Kumudavalli Seetharaman

Kumudavalli Seetharaman is an advocate and the head of Sarvada Legal's International Sports Law practice, with over ten years of experience specialising in international sports law and intellectual property rights. Her practice sits at the intersection of sports governance, regulatory compliance, and dispute resolution — spanning both advisory mandates and litigation before domestic courts and international tribunals.

Kumudavalli's background is distinctive in the Indian legal landscape. After completing her Masters in International Sports Law, she was associated with the All India Football Federation (AIFF), where she oversaw and managed the federation's judicial bodies and handled governance, commercial contracts, and compliance matters. She was instrumental in the conduct of the landmark AIFF elections in September 2022 — elections that were held pursuant to a Supreme Court-supervised process at one of the most consequential moments in Indian football governance. She was thereafter engaged in conducting the December 2022 elections of the Indian Olympic Association, again in pursuance of the directions of the Supreme Court of India — a matter of significant national and international sporting consequence. She has also served as a Member of the Appeal Committee of the South Asian Football Federation (SAFF), reflecting the regional and international breadth of her governance experience.

At Sarvada Legal, Kumudavalli advises a wide range of clients across the sporting ecosystem. She regularly counsels international sport confederations on disciplinary actions, ethical sanctions, and governance policies, and advises national sports federations on internal governance frameworks, conduct of elections, regulatory compliance, and sporting league formation. She assists federations in gaining recognition from the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports (MYAS) and their respective international governing bodies. She was also involved in ensuring legal compliance for the conduct of the elections of the Paralympic Committee of India. Her advisory practice spans regulatory compliance, disciplinary and ethics proceedings, anti-corruption and match-fixing matters, internal governance, league formation, and commercial aspects including franchise agreements, licence agreements, sponsorship agreements, and player agreements across traditional and e-sports.

As a litigating lawyer, Kumudavalli appears before District Courts and High Courts across India, the Supreme Court of India, the Competition Commission of India, and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne, Switzerland. Her background in intellectual property rights, competition law, and international trade laws provides a strong and multidisciplinary foundation for her work within the sporting industry.