Abang Iwawan

Managing Partner, Abang & Co

Abang Iwawan is the Managing Partner of Abang & Co, where his practice focuses on contentious and non-contentious infrastructure-related matters. He has acted as sole arbitrator and as counsel in arbitration and litigation, with broader work spanning advisory and transactional mandates across the energy, oil & gas, utilities and public infrastructure sectors.

He is an elected Councillor of the Malaysian Bar, where he Chairs both the Arbitration & Construction Law Committee and the Mediation Committee, which oversees the Malaysian International Mediation Centre. Iwawan is an empanelled arbitrator with the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) and Borneo International Centre for Arbitration & Mediation (BICAM). He is also an accredited mediator, and the incumbent International Chamber of Commerce Young Arbitration and ADR Forum (ICC YAAF) Regional Representative for South Asia.

Beyond his commercial practice, Iwawan is active in legal and policy work on Sustainability and Business & Human Rights. He was recently appointed by the Legal Affairs Division of the Prime Minister’s Department to the METL Committee for the implementation of Malaysia’s National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights.

Contributed to

1

Asian International Arbitration Centre—Asian Sports Arbitration Rules 2026

Practice Notes

This Practice Note is intended as a brief practical guide on the Asian Sports Arbitration Rules 2026 administered by the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC) in Malaysia. It covers the scope, framework and procedural operation of the Rules as well as its interaction with Malaysian sports-dispute mechanisms.What is AIAC?AIAC is an arbitral institution in Malaysia established under the auspices of the Asian-African Legal Consultative Organization (AALCO), an intergovernmental body whose membership spans Asia and Africa. This origin reflects AIAC's identity as a regional dispute resolution institution rather than a purely domestic one.AIAC administers arbitrations under the Asian Sports Arbitration Rules 2026 (Rules), which took effect on 1 January 2026 and form part of AIAC's suite of rules for 2026. The institutional framework allocates functions among the President of the AIAC Court of Arbitration, the AIAC Court and the Registrar. The arbitral tribunal constituted under the Rules is called the ‘Asian Sports Tribunal’.For further information on

Arbitration

Practice Area

Arbitration

Panel

Contributing Author

Qualified Year

2016 (England & Wales) - 2017 (Malaysia)

Experience

Rosli Dahlan Saravana Partnership (2020 - 2020)
Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill (2016 - 2020)

Membership

Malaysian Bar, Elected Council Member (2025-2026, 2026-2027)
The Honourable Society of Middle Temple (since 2015)
Chairperson, Bar Council Arbitration & Construction Law Committee (2025 – ongoing)
Co-Chairperson, Bar Council Mediation Committee (2026 – ongoing)
Deputy Chairperson, Bar Council Constitutional Law & Human Rights Committee (2024 – ongoing)