Born in 1969 in the island of São Miguel, Azores, Portugal. Married and father of three children.
Graduated in Law, by the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon, with masters in Sports Management by the Portuguese Catholic University and Professional Sport Law by the Law Faculty of the University of Coimbra.
Politically very active since his youth, we was elected President of the Jurisdictional Council (1995) and President of the Congress of the Social Democratic Youth/Azores (1997) and General Secretary of the Social Democratic Party/Porto District (1998), comprising 18 municipalities, under the national leadership of Dr. José Manuel Barroso, currently President of the European Commission. As a lawyer, he began his career at the “PLMJ”, the biggest Portuguese law firm, after gratifying professional experiences in the banking and financial sectors and the media.
In 1993 and, subsequently, 1997, he was elected Director of the Legal Department of Boavista FC, a club he served until 2000. In this year (June 2000), he was appointed General Secretary of the Portuguese Professional Football League (LPFP), a position he performed until 2005. During this period, he became the LPFP’s representative for international matters and the voice of the LPFP within the EUPPFL (European Union Premier Professional Football Leagues) and UEFA. He was also Co-ordinator of the Committee for the Review of the Portuguese Sports Law and the Sub-Committees for the Adaptation of the Fiscal and Accountancy Frameworks to Professional Sport.
In 2004 and 2005, Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros was distinguished by the Portuguese clubs, gathered at the League’s General Assembly, with a “voto de louvor”, approved by unanimity and acclamation in 2004 and before ceasing his functions, in 2005, as recognition for the relevant services rendered during his mandate.
Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros was elected Member of the UEFA Professional Football Committee in 2004 and re-elected in 2006, Member of the UEFA Professional Football Strategy Forum in 2006 and Member of the FIFA Task Force “For the Good of the Game” also in 2006. Since 2002, he was Member of several UEFA Working Groups.
Culminating his active involvement in the transformation of the pre-existing grouping of Leagues into the Association of European Professional Football Leagues (EPFL), he was elected General Manager, by unanimity, in June 2005, and reaffirmed as Chief Executive Officer of this Association in November 2007.
Within the vast scope of his specific rights and obligation, the EPFL CEO is entrusted with the definition and implementation of the Strategies necessary to meet the Association´s objectives and its daily political, administrative and financial management. He is also statutorily responsible for the articulation of the EPFL with FIFA, UEFA and any other sports bodies or political institutions, such as the European Commission, European Parliament, Council of Europe and national Governments and Parliaments.
It is also his specific competence to co-ordinate the activities of the EPFL Standing Committees and its Working Groups, as well as the Employers Delegation (EPFL) in the Steering Group of the European Social Dialogue in the Professional Football sector, which was launched under the auspices of the European Commission on 1 July 2008.
Emanuel Macedo de Medeiros has several publications related to Professional Football and Sports Law and has participated in a number of High-level Conferences across Europe.
