The review mechanism of sports arbitration in Switzerland is under scrutiny. After previous criticism from a human rights perspective, the Court of Justice of the European Union (“CJEU”), in its recent International Skating Union (“ISU”) decision, found that the standard of review applied by the Swiss Federal Court (“SFC”) to mandatory arbitration awards by the…

On the third day of Australian Arbitration Week, Clifford Chance’s Perth office hosted a panel discussion on “Australian sports tribunals and lessons learnt from international sports arbitration”. The session was moderated by Jamie Calvy (Senior Associate, Clifford Chance) with a panel comprising: Stephen Meade (General Counsel, Australian Football League); John Boultbee AM (Inaugural CEO, National…

Several football teams were adversely affected by the 2008 global financial crisis, and some of them were even liquidated. Over time, some of these clubs re-emerged, including as a result of mergers, acquisitions, the sale and purchase of production units during bankruptcy proceedings, etc. Others, however, were resurrected due to the desire of the supporters and/or…

In Decision 4A_520/2021 of 4 March 2022, the Swiss Federal Tribunal (“SFT”) was requested to determine whether the chairperson of a panel in proceedings before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (“CAS”) lacked independence or impartiality given his repeat appointments by FIFA. The SFT declared the challenge inadmissible under R34(1) CAS Code, yet still proceeded…

On 8 June 2021, the Paris Court of appeal (CoA) rendered an interesting decision dealing with the issue of so-called “double hatting” in sports arbitration. The issue of double hatting can no longer arise with respect to proceedings before the Lausanne-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), as Article S18(3) of the Code of Sports-related…

As two young female practitioners with barely any experience in sports, both, on and off-the field, the idea of getting involved in the practice of sports law and arbitration was certainly not par for the course. Yet, it was everything about sports law and arbitration – ranging from the concept of strict liability in doping,…

Ask any person on the street, and one would often find that sports has, in one way or another, played a role in or had an impact on their life. Commercially, the global sports industry has been one of the fastest growing industries. Like other growing industries where disputes are expected, the legal framework surrounding…

The recent public hearing at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (‘CAS’) involving the World Anti-Doping Agency (‘WADA’) on one side, and the Chinese swimmer Sun Yang and the Federation Internationale de Natation (‘FINA’) on the other, has been plagued with controversies. In the anticipation of the award (expected in early 2020), this seems to…

Over the last few years, third-party ownership of soccer players (“TPO”) has become controversial. TPO is a mechanism through which a soccer club assigns a player’s economic rights, including the right to benefit from transfer fees every time the player is transferred to another club, to third-party investors in return for a financial counterpart. Considering…

In a recent case, the Swiss Federal Tribunal (“SFT”) has once again been called to consider the question of independence of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (“CAS”) vis-à-vis its funders and users. This note introduces the issue of funding and independence of CAS in the context of the SFT’s prior case law and discusses…

2016 was a great year for Brazil, especially because it hosted the Rio 2016 Olympic Games, which has brought many good things: thousands of sports enthusiasts came to Rio de Janeiro to see high profile athletes; others just came for a good caipirinha on the Copacabana Beach; and, of course, many athletes from different countries…

The Pechstein decision of the Munich Court of Appeals (Oberlandesgericht) of January 15, 2015 has made headlines (see here and here). The Munich court refused to recognise an arbitral award of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), since it held the underlying arbitration agreement between Claudia Pechstein, the speed skater, and her sport’s governing…

and David Mamane and Hannah Boehm, Schellenberg Wittmer With its interim judgment of 15 January 2015, the Higher Regional Court of Munich added a new chapter to the longstanding legal dispute between the German speed skater Claudia Pechstein and the International Skating Union (“ISU”) (see the previous report on this story). The full decision has…