Although closer to Georgia than to Georgia, this winter Olympics has some interesting disputes for our readers. The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is an arbitral institution tasked with deciding disputes, usually between an athlete and his/her country’s national Olympic committee (NOC) or governing sports federation. CAS’s jurisdiction arises from member entities’ by-laws or agreements among the parties. CAS has been active since 1984 and was very busy during the Atlanta Olympics operating out of the offices of Alston & Bird, but it is sure to gain world-wide attention this month as the world focuses Sochi. Currently, the CAS is three cases in and is ready for more…
Earlier this month, Austrian skier Daniela Bauer brought the first application for this winter Olympics to the CAS. The Austrian skier felt she was discriminated against when she was unjustly left off the Austrian Olympic ski team. Bauer argued that she was left off the team despite having “met the FIS qualification requirements.” About 24 hours after hearing Bauer’s complaint, the CAS panel of three dismissed the case stating that Bauer was not discriminated against and the ASF acted reasonably as they excluded Bauer from the Austrian ski team based on her level of performance. However, the panel did highlight the fact that unofficial sources connected with ASF may have created unreasonable expectations that Bauer would have been selected had she met certain criteria. The CAS recommended the ASF publish official criteria that will allow athletes to clearly understand the qualification methods for the Olympic Games and avoid further confusion.
One day after the Bauer decision, CAS registered a new application from Argentinean freestyle skier, Clyde Getty. Getty filed a complaint against the International Skiing Federation (FIS). The 52-year-old skier’s complaint was soon dismissed. Citing the Freestyle Skiing Qualification System (FSQS), the CAS ruled that there was no interpretation of the qualifications that would make Getty eligible as Getty had not even met the minimum amount of qualification points required by FSQS.
With the athletes on a “complaint” losing streak, Marie Belen Simari Birkner, another Argentinian skier, received her ruling from CAS today. Birkner sought the CAS to force the Argentinean NOC to let Birkner compete in this winter’s Olympics. Much to the chagrin of Birkner, the CAS ruled they had no jurisdiction in this matter and dismissed the case on those grounds. According to the official media release of the CAS, Brinker was notified on January 20th that she was not going to be on the team. This made “the dispute well before January 28, 2014, i.e. 10 days before the Opening Ceremony of the Games, which is the date when the jurisdiction of the CAS” starts to be effective. However, to add insult to injury, the CAS decided to consider the merits of the case and ruled that Birkner “would have failed as she had not established that the COA decision was discriminatory.”
With ten day left in Russia the athletes are clearly faring better on the slopes then they are in front of the CAS.
Alternative Dispute Resolution in Georgia 