Court of Arbitration for Sport explained

Court Name:Court of Arbitration for Sport
Native Name: Tribunal arbitral du sport
Established:1984[1]
Location:Lausanne, Switzerland
Authority:International Olympic Committee (Olympic Charter)
Appealsto:Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland
Chiefjudgetitle:President
Chiefjudgename:John Coates
Termstart:2011

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; French: Tribunal arbitral du sport, TAS) is an international body established in 1984 to settle disputes related to sport through arbitration. Its headquarters are in Lausanne, Switzerland and its courts are located in New York City, Sydney, and Lausanne. Temporary courts are established in current 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. 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 Claudia Pechstein, who was unsuccessful in lifting a doping-related suspension in her CAS case, appealed to the Federal Court of Justice of Germany, which however ruled against her, recognising a lack of jurisdiction to revisit her case. The Federal Court ruled that CAS met the requirements of a court of arbitration according to German law and that CAS's independence from the parties was secured by the method of selecting arbitrators and the possibility to appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.[14] [15] However, this decision was in turn overturned by the 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 2022, 9695 cases had been submitted to CAS since 1986. Ordinary and ad hoc cases were first accepted in 1995, mediation cases in 1999, and anti-doping cases in 2016.[18] As of August 2024, there are 422 CAS Arbitrators around the world, with 216 from Europe, and 52 Mediators.[19] [20]

ICAS Board

Designation Name Country
ICAS/CAS President
ICAS Vice-Presidents
Dr. Elisabeth Steiner
Antonio F. Arimany
President of CAS Ordinary DivisionCarole Malinvaud
President of Appeals Arbitration DivisionCorinne Schmidhauser OLY
Non-Member Secretary and CAS Director General Matthieu Reeb

ICAS Members 2023-2026

Name Country
Prof. Abdullah Al Hayyan
Antonio F. Arimany, ICAS Vice President
John D. Coates, ICAS President
Ivo Eusebio, President of the Anti-Doping Division
Louis Everard
Dr. Emilio Garcia Silvero
Dyalá Jiménez
Silja Kanerva OLY
Michael B. Lenard OLY, ICAS Vice President
Carole Malinvaud, President of the CAS Ordinary Division
Dr. Dariusz Mioduski
Prof. Giulio Napolitano, Deputy President of the Ordinary Arbitration Division
Judge Ellen Gracie Northfleet
Kevin Plumb
Mikael Rentsch
David W. Rivkin, Deputy President of the Anti-Doping Division
Corinne Schmidhauser OLY, President of the Appeals Arbitration Division
Tricia C.M. Smith OLY
Nicola Spirig OLY
Dr. Elisabeth Steiner, ICAS Vice President and Deputy President of the Appeals Arbitration Division
Judge Hanqin Xue
Mattieu Reeb, Non-Member Secretary

Jurisprudence examples of note

Doping

Prior to that, the case of skater Claudia Pechstein had been decided (2009/A/1912 & 1913) on similar grounds.[22] 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:

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.[40] By the end of the Games the total number of cases was 28, 16 of which were related to the eligibility of Russian athletes.

Other cases

External links

Notes and References

  1. Web site: History of the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Court of Arbitration for Sport. 5 May 2016.
  2. News: Code : Statutes of ICAS and CAS . 28 June 2020 . Court of Arbitration for Sport .
  3. [International Olympic Committee]
  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]
  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 Accessed 18 June 2016.
  9. Court of Arbitration for Sport: Report on the activities of the CAS Divisions at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games Accessed 31 August 2016
  10. Court of Arbitration for Sport: Media release 23 July 2012
  11. CAS Bulletin 2011/2 Appeals against Arbitral Awards by the CAS by Stephan Netzle
  12. Roy Levy: Swiss Federal Tribunal overrules CAS award in a landmark decision: FIFA vs Matuzalem
  13. News: Ronay. Barney. 2020-03-05. Michel Platini's appeal over ban rejected by European court of human rights. en-GB. The Guardian. 2020-09-13. 0261-3077.
  14. Christian Keidel: German Federal Tribunal rejects Claudia Pechstein’s claim for damages against International Skating Union (ISU) Accessed 17 June 2016.
  15. CAS hosted: English translation of German Federal Tribunal decision
  16. Web site: Bundesverfassungsgericht - Entscheidungen - Erfolgreiche Verfassungsbeschwerde wegen mangelhafter Abwägung bei Prüfung der Zulässigkeit einer Schiedsklausel . 3 June 2022 .
  17. http://www.polyreg.ch/bgepub/Band_119_1993/BGE_119_II_271.html BGE 119 II 271
  18. Web site: 2022 . CAS Statistics . live . 15 August 2024.
  19. Web site: July 2024 . List of CAS Arbitrators by Nationality . live . 15 August 2024.
  20. Web site: September 2023 . List of CAS Mediators by Nationality . live . 15 August 2024.
  21. https://www.nytimes.com/2011/03/09/sports/cycling/09cycling.html?_r=1 Court Upholds Cyclist's Ban Based on Biological Passport
  22. CAS Bulletin 2011/2The Athlete Biological Passport Program by Despina Mavromati
  23. Court of Arbitration for Sport: CAS 2012/A/2731 BOC & BTC & Márcio W. Ferreira v/ WTF & COM & FMT & Damian A.Villa Valadez See §104 in particular.
  24. Aino-Kaisa Saarinen; Finnish Ski Association (FSA) v. Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS) CAS/2010/A/2090
  25. USOC v. IOC CAS/2011/O/2422
  26. News: London 2012: Dwain Chambers eligible after court ruling . BBC Sport . 30 April 2012 . 5 August 2012.
  27. BOA v. WADA CAS/2011/A/2658
  28. Court of Arbitration for Sport: CAS rejects the claims/appeal of the Russian Olympic Committee and 68 Russian athletes Accessed 25 July 2016.
  29. Court of Arbitration for Sports: ROC et al. v. IAAF Accessed 4 November 2016.
  30. Court of Arbitration for Sport: Athletics: The application filed by Darya Klishina (Russia) is upheld by the CAS Accessed 15 August 2016.
  31. News: Russia's sole athlete Darya Klishina cleared to compete after appeal. The Guardian. 15 August 2016.
  32. Court of Arbitration for Sport: CAS dismisses the appeal filed by the Russian Paralympic Committee Accessed 23 August 2016
  33. News: Rio Paralympics 2016: Russia banned after losing appeal. BBC Sport. 23 August 2016.
  34. Court of Arbitration for Sport: RPC v. IPC (The sections referred to are from paragraph 79 onwards). Accessed 31 August 2016.
  35. Web site: The Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS) issues its decision in the matter of 39 Russian athletes v/ the IOC. Court of Arbitration for Sports. 1 February 2018. 1 February 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180201081026/http://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Media_Release__decision_RUS_IOC_.pdf. 1 February 2018. live.
  36. News: Winter Olympics 2018: Court overturns life bans given to Russian athletes. BBC. 1 February 2018. 1 February 2018.
  37. Web site: IOC Statement on CAS decision. International Olympic Committee. 1 February 2018. 1 February 2018.
  38. News: Opinion In the latest chapter of the doping scandal, Russia gets a pass. Walden. Jim. 2018-02-05. The Washington Post. 2018-02-07. en-US. 0190-8286.
  39. News: Peru's Guerrero to miss World Cup. BBC Sport.
  40. Court of Arbitration for Sport: Media Release: 18 cases registered – Status as of 3 August 2016 Accessed 3 August 2016
  41. Court of Arbitration for Sport: CAS OG 16/09 Accessed 5 August 2016
  42. Court of Arbitration for Sport: Rowing: The Appeal of Anastasia Karabelshikova and Ivan Podshivalov is partially upheld by CAS Accessed 4 August 2016
  43. Court of Arbitration for Sport: CAS OG 16/13 Accessed 4 August 2016
  44. Court of Arbitration for Sport: CAS OG 16/04 Accessed 9 August 2016
  45. News: Rio Olympics 2016: Russia's Yulia Efimova beaten to gold by Lilly King of USA. BBC Sport. 17 June 2016.
  46. Court of Arbitration for Sport: CAS OG 16/12 Accessed 9 August 2016
  47. Court of Arbitration for Sport: CAS OG 16/19 Accessed 9 August 2016
  48. Web site: Court of Arbitration for Sport. CAS suspends IAAF Hyperandrogenism Regulations. 15 August 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20160816180459/http://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Media_Release_3759_FINAL.pdf. 16 August 2016. dead.
  49. Web site: Court of Arbitration for Sport. Chand v. IAAF - Interim award. 15 August 2016. https://web.archive.org/web/20170704221029/http://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/award_internet.pdf. 4 July 2017. dead.
  50. News: Dutee Chand, Female Sprinter With High Testosterone Level, Wins Right to Compete. The New York Times. 27 July 2015 . 15 August 2016. Branch . John .
  51. News: Dutee Chand to run in World Championships, gets favourable order from CAS. The Times of India. 29 July 2017.
  52. Web site: Court of Arbitration for Sport. The application of the IAAF hyperandrogenism regulations remain suspended. 20 January 2018. https://web.archive.org/web/20180121072515/http://www.tas-cas.org/fileadmin/user_upload/Media_Release_3759_Jan_2018.pdf. 21 January 2018. live.
  53. News: Singh . Navneet . Advantage Dutee Chand as CAS suspends world athletics body's gender policy. Hindustan Times. 20 January 2018.
  54. Web site: IAAF publishes briefing notes and Q&A on Female Eligibility Regulations | PRESS-RELEASE | World Athletics.
  55. News: Semenya loses appeal against IAAF rules. BBC Sport.
  56. News: Gibraltar have failed in their attempt to become a member of Uefa.. BBC Sport. 25 June 2012.
  57. News: CAS tells Fifa to reconsider Gibraltar's membership 'without delay'. The Guardian. 17 June 2016.
  58. News: Fifa: Kosovo and Gibraltar become members of world governing body. BBC Sport. 17 June 2016.
  59. http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport1/hi/football/irish/8538702.stm IFA take case to CAS
  60. Web site: CAS/2010/A/2071. Irish Football Association v/ Football Association of Ireland, Daniel Kearns and FIFA. https://web.archive.org/web/20160818233829/http://jurisprudence.tas-cas.org/Shared%20Documents/2071.pdf. 18 August 2016. live.
  61. Web site: Manchester City overturn two-year ban from European competition on appeal to Cas . BBC Sport . 13 July 2020 . 2020-07-13.