ARBITRAL JURISDICTION

IN SPORTS

BY: YOGITH C
VI SEM BALLB
JKA21060
 DEFINITION OF ARBITRATION

Arbitration is a formal method of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) involving

a neutral third party who makes a binding decision. The dispute will be decided by
one or more persons (the 'arbitrators', 'arbiters' or 'arbitral tribunal'), which renders
the 'arbitration award'. An arbitration decision or award is legally binding on both
sides and enforceable in the courts, unless all parties stipulate that the arbitration
process and decision are non-binding.
 Court of Arbitration for Sport
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 CAS was a result of the efforts of the President of IOC in 1981, Juan Antonio Samaranch, who recognised
the requirement of such an independent adjudicating body, which would be understood to take up the role
of “the supreme court of world sport.” In 1982, at an IOC meeting, late Judge Keba Mbaye, who was acting
as a judge in the International Court of Justice was asked to chair a working party with the aim to create
Statutes of a sports dispute resolution body which would be known as the “Court of Arbitration for Sports”. It
was in 1983 that IOC officially ratified the Statutes of the CAS which came into force on 30 th June 1984 and
CAS began its operation.
The CAS witnessed several reforms and revisions in its functioning in 1994. Since the institution of the body,
the IOC has held a great degree of control in the working of CAS. In order to allow the CAS to work
distinctively from the IOC, the International Council of Arbitration for Sports (ICAS) was established solely
to deal with the management and operation of CAS. One of the primary functions of the ICAS was to ensure
that CAS functions as an independent body and overlooks its administration, financing and overall running of
the organisation.
PURPOSE:
1.to be an international arbitral institution (imitating the success of commercial arbitration and making use of the New York
Convention); and
2.to be a universal world court in the sports world.

Current Structure of the CAS:

Both the ICAS and the CAS are governed by the CAS Statutes, and the CAS’s procedures are set out in the CAS Rules. The two
texts are referred to collectively as the CAS Code. Though published in English, French, and Spanish versions, in the event of a
discrepancy between the version, the French text is authoritative.
COMPOSITION:
S4
ICAS is composed of twenty-two members, experienced jurists appointed in the following manner :
six members are appointed by the International Federations ("IFs"), viz. five by the Association of Summer Olympic IFs ("ASOIF") and one by the Association of the Winter Olympic IFs ("AIOWF"), chosen from within or outside their membership;
1.
four members are appointed by the Association of the National Olympic Committees ("ANOC"), chosen from within or outside its membership;
2.
four members are appointed by the International Olympic Committee ("IOC"), chosen from within or outside its membership;
3.
four members are appointed by the fourteen members of ICAS listed above, after appropriate consultation with a view to safeguarding the interests of the athletes;
4.
four members are appointed by the eighteen members of ICAS listed above, chosen from among personalities independent of the bodies designating the other members of the ICAS.
5.
S5
The members of ICAS are appointed for one or several renewable period(s) of four years. Such nominations shall take place during the last year of each four-year cycle.
TYPES OF DISPUTE DEALT BY CAS

1.Disciplinary disputes
2.Ethical disputes
3.Commercial disputes
4.Disputes regarding decisions taken by sports federation
 JURISDICTION AND APPEAL

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, 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. Starting in 2016, an anti-
doping division of CAS judges, who specialize in doping cases at the Olympic Games, replaced the IOC disciplinary
commission.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.
As a Swiss arbitration organization, decisions of the CAS can be appealed to the Federal Supreme Court of Switzerland.
It has three types of proceeding:
1. Original proceeding
2. Appellate proceeding
3. Ad Hoc proceeding
1. ORGINAL PROCEEDINGS:
When the parties to an agreement has chose CAS as an adjudicating authority in case of any dispute.
The arbitral process begins when a party submits a written application to the CAS. This written "Request for Arbitration" must
contain a brief statement of facts and legal background, a precise prayer for relief, proof of the arbitration agreement, a preference
on the number of arbitrators, and arbitrator names.The arbitration then proceeds with an exchange of written submissions. The
parties must file all evidence together with their submissions. After the exchange, the parties may only submit additional evidence
if there is a mutual agreement between parties or with the arbitration panel's permission under exceptional circumstances.If a
claimant fails to submit a statement in due time, the request for arbitration would be deemed withdrawn. On the contrary, if a
respondent fails to submit a response or counter claim, the arbitral panel may proceed and render an award. If any of the parties or
their witnesses are summoned and fail to be present at the hearing, the arbitral panel may nevertheless proceed with the hearing
and issue an award.Parties and witnesses present their respective arguments and statements in pleading sessions. Hearings are not
mandatory and arbitration panels may find written submissions sufficient enough to make a decision. However, if a hearing is
conducted, it is done so on camera unless the parties agree otherwise.Finally, awards rendered by the CAS where it acts as a panel
of first instance are subject to appeal before the CAS Appellate Division.
2. APPELLATE PROCEEDINGS:
CAS can be approached for an appeal against the order passed by various recognised international sports agencies and it shall act
as an adjudicating authority for such appeals.
The appeals procedure is governed by both the General Provisions and the Special Provisions Applicable to the Appeals
Arbitration Proceedings of the CAS Code. The proceedings are similar to the procedures set out in the Ordinary Arbitration
Procedure.An appeal commences when an appellant files a "Statement of Appeal" to the CAS, which must contain: A copy of the
decision subjected to appeal, a request for relief, the name of an arbitrator chosen from the CAS arbitrators list or a request from
the appellant for the appointment of a sole arbitrator, an application for a stay of execution of the decision subjected to appeal if
any, and a copy of the statute provisions, regulations, or the specific agreement at issue.The appellant will deliver its detailed
arguments under a "Statement of Appeal" in due time. The CAS will then invite the respondent to present its response and
defenses. Failing to submit written statements has the same result as explained in the Ordinary Arbitration Proceedings. Following
the exchange of written statements, the parties are not allowed to present exhibits and evidence except by mutual agreement of the
parties or with the arbitral panel's permission under exceptional circumstances.The appeal panel has the full power to conduct a de
novo review on the facts of the dispute and the law. Accordingly, it may issue a new award which may replace the challenged
decision or annul the decision and refer the case back to the previous instance panel.
3. AD HOC PROCEEDINGS:
The CAS Ad Hoc Division is a body that is activated only during specific events like FIFA World Cup, Commonwealth Games,
and so on. It corroborates the issuance of arbitral awards within 24 hours of application and thereby plays an important role
securing speedy delivery of justice in a efficient way and allows the competitions to function normally without any delay.
CAS AWARDS:
In arbitration, an award is the equivalent of a decision granted by the arbitrators in their verdict. An award can be a form of
financial payment one party has to pay to the other party. It can also take other forms, such as stopping a certain business
practice or some other form of compensation. An award pronounced by the CAS is final and binding on all parties involved
from the moment it is communicated.
 ARBITRATION FOR SPORTS IN
INDIA
Upon the lack of success of the National Sports Policy of 1984, a new National Sports policy was envisaged and created in 2001.
In furtherance to these efforts, the Indian Court of Arbitration for Sports (ICAS) was set up in 2011 with Dr. A.R. Lakshmanan at
the helm as Chairman. ICAS was one of India's first concrete steps toward laying the groundwork for having a robust dispute
resolution mechanism specifically catering to the nuances of issues involved in sport. The court was centred around the principle
of effective and speedy resolution of sports disputes keeping in mind the limited time span that a sportsperson enjoys during their
career in sport.
There is a salient need for a specialised dispute-resolution mechanism for disputes in sports and the sporting industry. To tackle
these issues head-on there have been a plethora of suggestions made by the Law Commission of India primarily centred around
the prospective setting up of a practice friendly and modern law to govern the settlement of disputes in the field and the set-up of a
specialised body for Sports Arbitration in India.
To address this lacuna, the Sports Arbitration Centre of India was founded in 2021. Sports Arbitration Centre of India (SACI) was
inaugurated by Minister of Law and Justice, Kiren Rijiju in September 2021 in Ahmedabad, Gujarat to serve as an independent
body to fast track disputes in the sports sector and serve as a mechanism to redress issues related to sports and all legal backing
will be provided by the Ministry of Law and Justice. The SACI will have a far-reaching impact on the sports sector of the country
by creating a reputation and establishing credibility for itself through the provision to settle disputes and other issues and concerns
of the sports sector in a fast, transparent and very accountable manner.
It answers to the need for an independent body specifically catering to the intricate needs of the up and coming era of sports
within a country by providing a neutral platform that's more efficient and caters only to dispute matters within the sports
community. Since the centre has been set up by the Ministry of Law and justice, and in a way it is an extension of the same,
providing a level of accountability that remained ambiguous before this venture.
 CASES:
1.Irish Football FA Case: CAS 2010/A/2071
On the 3rd of November 2009, the Football Association of Ireland (FAI) submitted a request to FIFA to allow the
player Daniel Kearns, (then contracted to West ham United) to represent the national team of the FAI on the basis
of his dual British and Irish nationalities. A single judge panel of the FIFA Players’ Status Committee decided that
Kearns fulfilled the necessary objective requirements , they allowed him to represent. The IFA, the governing
football body Northern Ireland, filed an appeal with CAS on 2 March 2010 and the case was heard by a CAS Panel in
Lausanne on 19 July 2010.The CAS Panel dismissed the appeal and confirmed the decision issued by the Single Judge
of the FIFA Players’ Status Committee.
2. Mokgadi Caster Semenya v. International Association of Athletics Federations: CAS 2018/0/5794
Caster Semanya is a 28-year-old Olympic athlete specialising in 800m races. She won her first world championship in
2009 and went on to win a further two titles in 2012 and 2017. Also in 2016, she won gold at the Rio Olympics. Her
incredible success and overwhelming dominance raised doubt and suspicion among many. It was later discovered
that she had a hormone disorder causing her to have higher levels of testosterone, commonly classified under the
umbrella of Differences of Sexual Development (DSD). She was also put on medication to reduce her testosterone
levels and spent six months on the sidelines as dictated by the International Association for Athletics
Federations.All of this resulted in the formation of DSD regulations, that athletes like Semenya would have to follow
if they wanted to compete in races. Semanya refused to agree to this bit of legislation and the matter was taken to
the CAS in Lausanne, Switzerland.The CAS on the 1st of May 2019 delivered in favour of the IAAF regulations on DSD
deeming them ‘necessary’ and ‘reasonable’ A similar opinion was held by the Swiss Federal Supreme Court on
appeal.