The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; Tribunal Arbitral du Sport or TAS in French) is an arbitration body set up to settle disputes related to sports. Its headquarters are in Lausanne; there are additional courts located in New York City and Sydney, with ad-hoc courts created in Olympics host cities as required.
Ten years later, a case decided by the CAS was 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 which existed between the CAS and the IOC. In response, the CAS underwent reforms to make itself more independent of the IOC, organizationally and financially. The biggest 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.
Generally speaking, a dispute may be submitted to the CAS only if there is an arbitration agreement between the parties which specifies recourse to the CAS. Currently, all Olympic International Federations but one, and many National Olympic Committees have recognised the jurisdiction of the CAS and included in their statutes an arbitration clause referring disputes to it.
Its arbitrators are all high level jurists and it is generally held in high regard in the international sports community.
As of 2004, the majority of recent cases considered by the CAS dealt with doping or transfer fees paid within professional football (soccer).
External links
Official website (http://www.tas-cas.org/)
Where Do Athletes Go to Court? (http://www.slate.com/Default.aspx?id=2103285), a July 2004 article from Slate
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS; Tribunal Arbitral du Sport or TAS in French) is an arbitration body set up to settle disputes related to sports.
The Swiss court ruled that the CAS was a true court of arbitration, but drew attention to the numerous links which existed between the CAS and the IOC.
Its arbitrators are all high level jurists and it is generally held in high regard in the international sports community.
Sportsarbitrations only exist because the athlete, the national governing body (“N.G.B.”), and others in the sport world have agreed to be bound by arbitration and the outcome of the case.
The court stated that “unless the non-compliance with the nomination criteria was so substantial as to satisfy the Court that the decision could have been different then any such non-compliance should be regarded as inconsequential or immaterial and not provide a proper basis to overturn the selectors decision.”50 Accordingly, the CAS dismissed the appeal.
The court emphasized that both fairness and finality are desirable objectives of arbitration and, that in the Perez application, the importance of fairness compelled the panel to hear the dispute.
Feeds |
Contact