Court of Arbitration for Sport

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Court of Arbitration for Sport
(in French) Tribunal arbitral du sport
Headquarters, in Lausanne, Switzerland
Established1984[1]
LocationLausanne, Switzerland
Authorized byInternational Olympic Committee (Olympic Charter)
Appeals toFederal Supreme Court of Switzerland
Websitewww.tas-cas.org
President
CurrentlyJohn Coates
Since2011
The entrance of the headquarters of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, in Lausanne, Switzerland

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS;

Olympic host cities
.

The International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS) was established simultaneously, and a single president presides over both bodies. The ICAS, which has a membership of 20 individuals, is responsible for the financing of and financial reporting by the CAS, and it appoints the Director-General of the CAS.[2]

Jurisdiction and appeals

Generally speaking, a dispute may be submitted to the CAS only if an arbitration agreement between the parties specifies recourse to the CAS. However, according to rule 61 of the Olympic Charter, all disputes in connection with the Olympic Games can only be submitted to CAS,[3] and all Olympic international federations (IF) have recognised the jurisdiction of CAS for at least some disputes.[4]

Through compliance with the 2009 World Anti-Doping Code, all signatories, including all Olympic international federations and National Olympic Committees, have recognised the jurisdiction of CAS for anti-doping rule violations.[3][5][6] Starting in 2016, an anti-doping division of CAS judges, who specialize in doping cases at the Olympic Games, replaced the IOC disciplinary commission.[7] These decisions can be appealed to CAS's ad hoc court in the Olympic host city or, if the ad hoc court is no longer available, to the permanent CAS.[8] The inaugural anti-doping division handled eight cases, of which seven were doping cases within its jurisdiction.[9]

As a Swiss arbitration organization, decisions of the CAS can be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland.[10] Appeals of arbitration decisions are generally not successful,[11] and no evaluation of the merits takes place, with the evaluation mainly based on whether procedural requirements have been met, and whether the award is incompatible with public policy. As of March 2012, there have been seven successful appeals. Six of the upheld appeals were procedural in nature. Only once has the Federal Supreme Court overruled a CAS decision on the case's merits, in the case of Matuzalém, a Brazilian football player.[12] CAS decisions can be the subject of further appeal to the European Court of Human Rights.[13]

German speed skater

Federal Constitutional Court of Germany, which ordered a re-trial that is still pending.[16]

History

With the intermixing of

sports and politics, the body was originally conceived by International Olympic Committee (IOC) president Juan Antonio Samaranch to deal with disputes arising during the Olympics. It was established as part of the IOC in 1984.[1]

In 1992, the case of Gundel v. La Fédération Equestre Internationale was decided by the CAS, and then appealed to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland, challenging CAS impartiality. The Swiss court ruled that the CAS was a true court of arbitration but drew attention to the numerous links between the CAS and the IOC.[17]

In response, the CAS underwent reforms to make itself more independent of the IOC, both organizationally and financially. The most significant change resulting from this reform was the creation of an "International Council of Arbitration for Sport" (ICAS) to look after the running and financing of the CAS, thereby taking the place of the IOC. As of 2004, most recent cases that were considered by the CAS dealt with transfer disputes within professional

doping
.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport is planning to move its headquarters from the Château de Béthusy to the south part of the Palais de Beaulieu (both in Lausanne).[18]

ICAS Board

Designation Name Country
ICAS/CAS President John D. Coates AC  Australia
ICAS Vice-Presidents Michael B. Lenard OLY  United States
Tjasa Andrée-Prosenc  Slovenia
President of CAS Ordinary Division Carole Malinvaud  France
President of Appeals Arbitration Division Corinne Schmidhauser OLY  Switzerland
CAS Director General Matthieu Reeb  Switzerland

ICAS members

Name Country
Abdullah Al Hayyan  Kuwait
Tjasa Andrée-Prosenc  Slovenia
Antonio Arimany  Spain
John D. Coates AC  Australia
Moya Dodd AO  Australia
Ivo Eusebio  Switzerland
Monique Jametti  Switzerland
Michael B. Lenard OLY  United States
Carole Malinvaud  France
Yvonne Mokgoro  South Africa
Giulio Napolitano  Italy
Ellen Northfleet  Brazil
Mikael Rentsch  Sweden
David W. Rivkin  United States
Patrick Robinson  Jamaica
Corinne Schmidhauser OLY  Switzerland
Tricia C.M. Smith OLY  Canada
Elisabeth Steiner  Austria
Hanqin Xue  China

Jurisprudence examples of note

Doping

  • In March 2011, CAS decided its first case on
    athlete biological passports (ABP) when it suspended two Italian cyclists, Franco Pellizotti and Pietro Caucchioli, for two years based on evidence from their blood profiles.[19]
Prior to that, the case of skater Claudia Pechstein had been decided (2009/A/1912 & 1913) on similar grounds.[20] Writing in the 2011/2 CAS Bulletin regarding the institution of the ABP program, CAS Counsel Despina Mavromati differentiated between the two types of cases and wrote:

It is noteworthy that CAS had already issued an award suspending an athlete based on the longitudinal profiling of the biological markers before the adoption of the ABP by the IFs [international federations]: in CAS 2009/A/1912 & 1913 [Pechstein], the Panel suspended an Olympic athlete after the biological data showed irregular blood values. According to CAS, those abnormal values were not caused by an error in a laboratory, as the athlete asserted, but due to the banned manipulation of the athlete’s blood. The essential difference between ABP judgments and the CAS 2009/A/1912 & 1913 consists in that in the latter case, the athlete's blood data was drawn from a sample the athlete gave at the federations championships and therefore not from data gathered by an official systematic program run by the athlete's union.[20]

  • In 2001, the court decided the case of Andreea Răducan v. International Olympic Committee. This was a controversial anti-doping case, where it was fairly clear the athlete received cold and flu tablets from her doctor. This resulted in a positive urine test, with the court concluding:

"The Panel is aware of the impact its decision will have on a fine, young, elite athlete. It finds, in balancing the interests of Miss Raducan with the commitment of the Olympic Movement to drug-free sport, the Anti-Doping Code must be enforced without compromise."[21]

  • The court is reluctant to overturn field of play decisions, though it may do so in cases where there is clear evidence that the officials acted in bad faith or with arbitrariness.[22] In CAS 2010/A/2090, the CAS Panel explained that the reason for this is not a matter of jurisdiction but arbitral self-restraint.[23]
  • In October 2011, in a case affecting the 2012 Summer Olympics, the court declared that a part of the Olympic Charter violated the World Anti-Doping Code.[24] The "Osaka rule" therein had prevented athletes suspended for at least six months for anti-doping rule violations from competing at the Olympic Games following the suspension's expiration. The court later reaffirmed this decision, when it struck down a long-standing by-law of the British Olympic Association (BOA) preventing the selection of athletes sanctioned for doping.[25][26] Both the IOC and BOA have responded by campaigning for adding a similar rule to the World Anti-Doping Code.
  • In July 2016, CAS confirmed that the
    RusAF, formerly ARAF), and rule 22.1A, regarding the eligibility of athletes from suspended federations. The panel found that neither rule could be construed as sanctions, and for this and other reasons, they were consistent with the World Anti-Doping Code. The panels commented on the futility of the challenge to the new rule 22.1A, noting that as the rule provided athletes from Russia a new route to participation, a successful challenge would lead to the exclusion of athletes eligible under the rule, not the inclusion of other athletes. The panel decided against evaluating whether the principle of estoppel applies to sporting disputes, as it found the claims, in this case, would have failed.[28] At the same time, in a separate decision, the panel rejected the appeals of 67 Russian athletes against the decisions of the IAAF denying their applications to appear as "neutral athletes" at the 2016 Summer Olympics.[27] Darya Klishina was the only Russian athlete cleared by both the IAAF and the IOC. However, the IAAF declared her ineligible on 12 August based on new information. On 15 August, the CAS ad hoc court upheld Klishina's appeal.[29][30]
  • The International Paralympic Committee (IPC) decided to ban Russia from the 2016 Summer Paralympics due to the findings of the McLaren report. The appeal of the Russian Paralympic Committee (RPC) against the ban was dismissed by the CAS on 23 August. The court found that the suspension had a basis in the IPC rules and stated that it "was proportionate in the circumstances". The panel noted that it had not decided the rights of individual athletes.[31][32] In its reasoned decision the panel elaborated on this point, stating that adverse consequences for the athletes represented by the RPC were not a reason to absolve the organisation from its legal responsibilities. The panel dismissed the claim that the IOC decision should have influenced the IPC decision, noting that the organisations have separate charters and rules. As the IPC also acts as an IF the court referred to the case between the RWF and the IWF where CAS upheld a similar suspension.[33]
  • In late 2017, the IOC disqualified a large number of Russian athletes' results from the 2014 Winter Olympics. The athletes were also given lifetime bans from future editions of the games. CAS registered 42 appeals, of which 39 were decided before the 2018 Winter Olympics. For 28 athletes, the panel found that the evidence presented by the IOC was not sufficient to establish rule violations. The disqualifications were upheld in the 11 remaining cases, but the ban was limited to the 2018 Games. The panel made clear that its mandate was limited to the individual cases. The case did not affect the status of Russian athletes participating in PyeongChang.[34][35] The IOC expressed its regret with the decision regarding the 28 athletes whose appeals were fully upheld, stating that the level of proof required was inconsistent with earlier CAS decisions. The IOC also stated that the sanctions being lifted were not a sufficient reason for inviting the 28 athletes to compete at the 2018 Games. The IOC said it would consider its options after receiving the reasoned decision.[36] In response to the ruling by CAS, Jim Walden, the attorney representing Dr. Grigory Rodchenkov, stated that the ruling made a "mockery" of the sanctions against Russia.[37]
  • In 2018, the World Anti-Doping Agency appealed to the CAS after FIFA reduced a suspension of Peruvian national team captain Paolo Guerrero. Guerrero had tested positive for cocaine after a World Cup qualifier against Argentina after ingesting a tea containing the substance. Guerrero was initially suspended for twelve months, but this was later halved by FIFA's appeal committee. WADA, in turn, appealed to CAS, and they imposed the fourteen-month ban in May 2018, which will cause Guerrero to miss the 2018 FIFA World Cup. CAS confirmed the existence of an anti-doping rule violation (ADRV) but also accepted that Guerrero was not trying to enhance his performance by ingesting the substance. The panel had considered that the player did bear some fault or negligence, even if it was not significant, and that he could have taken some measures to prevent him from committing the ADRV.[38]

2016 Summer Olympics ad hoc court

The ad hoc court for the 2016 Olympics had registered 18 cases by 3 August, surpassing the record two days before the Opening Ceremony. 11 of the cases were related to the various bans on Russian athletes related to the allegations of state-sponsored doping documented in the McLaren report.[39] By the end of the Games the total number of cases was 28, 16 of which were related to the eligibility of Russian athletes.[9]

Other cases

  • In July 2015, in a case involving the issue of
    women's athletics. The regulations stated that athletes with testosterone levels above 10 nmol/L were not allowed to compete in the female category. The regulations were challenged by Indian sprinter Dutee Chand. The panel ordered the IAAF to file scientific evidence regarding the connection between athletic performance and elevated testosterone levels within two years of the issuance of the interim award.[47][48][49] This deadline was extended by two months by the CAS after an agreement between the parties.[50] In January 2018 the CAS suspended the case for six months, asking the IAAF to clarify whether it intended to replace the disputed regulations with new rules which would not affect Chand's events. If the IAAF were to modify its rules the case would terminate. The original regulations remain suspended.[51][52] In 2019, the CAS upheld the new IAAF regulations regarding intersex athletes,[53] which require athletes with certain specific intersex conditions to reduce their testosterone in order to participate in certain women's competitions.[54]
  • The court ruled in 2006 that Gibraltar had valid grounds for its application to join UEFA, forcing the organisation to hand it provisional membership. At the next UEFA Congress, however, Gibraltar was overwhelmingly rejected in a vote due to lobbying from Spain, in defiance of the CAS ruling.[55] Gibraltar subsequently became a member of UEFA in 2013. In May 2016, CAS partially upheld Gibraltar's appeal against a decision by FIFA denying membership. The court did not grant FIFA membership but ruled that FIFA should grant a full membership as soon as possible.[56] Gibraltar was granted membership at the FIFA Congress held later the same month.[57]
  • In 2010, the Irish Football Association (IFA) (the association of Northern Ireland) took its case to CAS after FIFA failed to prevent the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) (the association of the Republic of Ireland) from selecting Northern Irish-born players who had no blood link to the Republic.[58] The CAS ruled in favour of the FAI and FIFA by confirming that they were correctly applying the regulations.[59]
  • In February 2020,
    Financial Fair Play and Club Licensing regulations. The ban was rescinded by CAS on 13 July 2020 after the panel decided that the club 'did not disguise equity funding as sponsorship contributions'. However, the club was fined 10 million Euros for failing to co-operate with UEFA investigatory chamber in the first instance which breached UEFA Club Licensing Regulations.[60]
  • In 2015, UEFA banned its former president Michel Platini from football-related activity for six years. CAS lowered the ban to four years. Platini's appeals to Swiss courts and the European Court of Human Rights were unsuccessful.[13]

Notes and references

  1. ^ a b History of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, official website of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (page visited on 5 May 2016).
  2. ^ "Code : Statutes of ICAS and CAS". Court of Arbitration for Sport. Retrieved 28 June 2020.
  3. ^ a b International Olympic Committee: Olympic Charter Archived 7 October 2009 at the Wayback Machine
  4. ^ Richard H. McLaren, Twenty-Five Years of the Court of Arbitration for Sport: A Look in the Rear-View Mirror, 20 Marq. Sports L. Rev. 305 (2010)
  5. ^ World Anti-Doping Agency: 2009 World Anti-Doping Code Archived 24 August 2012 at the Wayback Machine
  6. ^ Hilary Findlay and Marcus F. Mazzucco: The Supervisory Role of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Regulating the International Sport System
  7. ^ Karolos Grohman: CAS to take over doping cases at Olympics Accessed 18 June 2016.
  8. ^ Court of Arbitration for Sport: Arbitration Rules Applicable to the CAS Anti-doping division Archived 26 June 2016 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 18 June 2016.
  9. ^ a b Court of Arbitration for Sport: Report on the activities of the CAS Divisions at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games Archived 13 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 31 August 2016
  10. ^ Court of Arbitration for Sport: Media release 23 July 2012 Archived 31 December 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  11. ^ CAS Bulletin 2011/2 Appeals against Arbitral Awards by the CAS by Stephan Netzle Archived 15 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  12. ^ Roy Levy: Swiss Federal Tribunal overrules CAS award in a landmark decision: FIFA vs Matuzalem Archived 25 March 2014 at the Wayback Machine
  13. ^
    ISSN 0261-3077
    . Retrieved 13 September 2020.
  14. ^ Christian Keidel: German Federal Tribunal rejects Claudia Pechstein’s claim for damages against International Skating Union (ISU) Archived 22 March 2019 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 17 June 2016.
  15. ^ CAS hosted: English translation of German Federal Tribunal decision Archived 3 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  16. ^ "Bundesverfassungsgericht - Entscheidungen - Erfolgreiche Verfassungsbeschwerde wegen mangelhafter Abwägung bei Prüfung der Zulässigkeit einer Schiedsklausel". 3 June 2022.
  17. ^ BGE 119 II 271 Archived 6 January 2017 at the Wayback Machine (Gundel v La Fédération Equestre Internationale)
  18. ^ Aïna Skjellaug, "Privé de sa tour Taoua, Beaulieu présente son plan B" Archived 9 October 2016 at the Wayback Machine, Le Temps, Wednesday 18 May 2016 (page visited on 18 May 2016).
  19. ^ Court Upholds Cyclist's Ban Based on Biological Passport New York Times. Retrieved 24 March 2013
  20. ^ a b CAS Bulletin 2011/2 The Athlete Biological Passport Program by Despina Mavromati Archived 15 April 2015 at the Wayback Machine
  21. ^ Essentials of Sport Law, by Glenn M. Wong, Fourth Edition, Note 5.3.9
  22. ^ Court of Arbitration for Sport: CAS 2012/A/2731 BOC & BTC & Márcio W. Ferreira v/ WTF & COM & FMT & Damian A.Villa Valadez Archived 12 June 2015 at the Wayback Machine See §104 in particular.
  23. ^ Aino-Kaisa Saarinen; Finnish Ski Association (FSA) v. Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS) CAS/2010/A/2090 Archived 19 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  24. ^ USOC v. IOC CAS/2011/O/2422 Archived 18 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  25. ^ "London 2012: Dwain Chambers eligible after court ruling". BBC Sport. 30 April 2012. Retrieved 5 August 2012.
  26. ^ BOA v. WADA CAS/2011/A/2658 Archived 6 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine
  27. ^ a b Court of Arbitration for Sport: CAS rejects the claims/appeal of the Russian Olympic Committee and 68 Russian athletes Archived 21 July 2016 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 25 July 2016.
  28. ^ Court of Arbitration for Sports: ROC et al. v. IAAF Archived 5 November 2016 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 4 November 2016.
  29. ^ Court of Arbitration for Sport: Athletics: The application filed by Darya Klishina (Russia) is upheld by the CAS Archived 28 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 15 August 2016.
  30. ^ "Russia's sole athlete Darya Klishina cleared to compete after appeal". The Guardian. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  31. ^ Court of Arbitration for Sport: CAS dismisses the appeal filed by the Russian Paralympic Committee Archived 23 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 23 August 2016
  32. ^ "Rio Paralympics 2016: Russia banned after losing appeal". BBC Sport. Retrieved 23 August 2016.
  33. ^ Court of Arbitration for Sport: RPC v. IPC Archived 9 September 2016 at the Wayback Machine (The sections referred to are from paragraph 79 onwards). Accessed 31 August 2016.
  34. ^ Court of Arbitration for Sports (1 February 2018). "The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) issues its decision in the matter of 39 Russian athletes v/ the IOC" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 1 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  35. ^ "Winter Olympics 2018: Court overturns life bans given to Russian athletes". BBC. 1 February 2018. Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  36. ^ International Olympic Committee (1 February 2018). "IOC Statement on CAS decision". Retrieved 1 February 2018.
  37. ISSN 0190-8286
    . Retrieved 7 February 2018.
  38. ^ "Peru's Guerrero to miss World Cup". BBC Sport.
  39. ^ a b c Court of Arbitration for Sport: Media Release: 18 cases registered – Status as of 3 August 2016 Archived 20 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 3 August 2016
  40. ^ Court of Arbitration for Sport: CAS OG 16/09 Archived 22 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 5 August 2016
  41. ^ Court of Arbitration for Sport: Rowing: The Appeal of Anastasia Karabelshikova and Ivan Podshivalov is partially upheld by CAS Archived 21 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 4 August 2016
  42. ^ Court of Arbitration for Sport: CAS OG 16/13 Archived 22 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 4 August 2016
  43. ^ Court of Arbitration for Sport: CAS OG 16/04 Archived 27 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 9 August 2016
  44. ^ "Rio Olympics 2016: Russia's Yulia Efimova beaten to gold by Lilly King of USA". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  45. ^ Court of Arbitration for Sport: CAS OG 16/12 Archived 8 January 2019 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 9 August 2016
  46. ^ Court of Arbitration for Sport: CAS OG 16/19 Archived 27 August 2016 at the Wayback Machine Accessed 9 August 2016
  47. ^ Court of Arbitration for Sport. "CAS suspends IAAF Hyperandrogenism Regulations" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 August 2016. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  48. ^ Court of Arbitration for Sport. "Chand v. IAAF - Interim award" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 4 July 2017. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  49. ^ Branch, John (27 July 2015). "Dutee Chand, Female Sprinter With High Testosterone Level, Wins Right to Compete". The New York Times. Retrieved 15 August 2016.
  50. ^ "Dutee Chand to run in World Championships, gets favourable order from CAS". The Times of India. Retrieved 29 July 2017.
  51. ^ Court of Arbitration for Sport. "The application of the IAAF hyperandrogenism regulations remain suspended" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 21 January 2018. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  52. ^ Singh, Navneet. "Advantage Dutee Chand as CAS suspends world athletics body's gender policy". Hindustan Times. Retrieved 20 January 2018.
  53. ^ "IAAF publishes briefing notes and Q&A on Female Eligibility Regulations | PRESS-RELEASE | World Athletics".
  54. ^ "Semenya loses appeal against IAAF rules". BBC Sport.
  55. ^ "Gibraltar have failed in their attempt to become a member of Uefa". BBC Sport. Retrieved 25 June 2012.
  56. ^ "CAS tells Fifa to reconsider Gibraltar's membership 'without delay'". The Guardian. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  57. ^ "Fifa: Kosovo and Gibraltar become members of world governing body". BBC Sport. Retrieved 17 June 2016.
  58. ^ IFA take case to CAS
  59. ^ CAS/2010/A/2071. "Irish Football Association v/ Football Association of Ireland, Daniel Kearns and FIFA" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 18 August 2016.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  60. ^ "Manchester City overturn two-year ban from European competition on appeal to Cas". BBC Sport. 13 July 2020. Retrieved 13 July 2020.

External links