The decentralised CAS offices and the ad hoc divisions

TYPES OF DISPUTES SUBMITTED TO THE CAS

Generally speaking, a dispute may be submitted to the Court of Arbitration for Sport only if there is an arbitration agreement between the parties which specifies recourse to the CAS. Article R27 of the Code stipulates that the CAS has jurisdiction solely to rule on disputes connected with sport. Since its creation, the CAS has never declared itself to lack jurisdiction on the grounds of a dispute’s not being related to sport (see in this regard the award delivered in the arbitration TAS 92/81 in the Digest of CAS Awards 1986-1998).

In principle, two types of dispute may be submitted to the CAS: those of a commercial nature, and those of a disciplinary nature.

The first category essentially involves disputes relating to the execution of contracts, such as those relating to sponsorship, the sale of television rights, the staging of sports events, player transfers and relations between players or coaches and clubs and/or agents (employment contracts and agency contracts). Disputes relating to civil liability issues also come under this category (e.g. an accident to an athlete during a sports competition). These so-called commercial disputes are handled by the CAS acting as a court of sole instance.

Disciplinary cases represent the second group of disputes submitted to the CAS, of which a large number are doping-related. In addition to doping cases, the CAS is called upon to rule on various disciplinary cases (violence on the field of play, abuse of a referee). ­

Such disciplinary cases are generally dealt with in the first instance by the competent sports authorities, and subsequently become the subject of an appeal to the CAS, which then acts as a court of last instance.

­In 1996, the ICAS created two permanent decentralised offices, the first in Sydney in Australia, and the second in Denver, in the United States of America. In December 1999, the Denver office was transferred to New York. These offices are attached to the CAS court office in Lausanne, and are competent to receive and notify all procedural acts. Creating them made it easier for parties domiciled in Oceania and North America to have access to the CAS.­ ­

Later in 1996, the ICAS created a CAS ad hoc division with the task of settling finally and within a 24-hour time-limit any disputes arising during the Olympic Games in Atlanta. This ad hoc division was composed of two co-presidents and 12 arbitrators who were in the Olympic city throughout the Games. To ensure easy access to the ad hoc division for all those taking part in the Olympic Games (athletes, officials, coaches, federations, etc.), a special procedure was created for the occasion, which was simple, flexible and free of charge. A total of six cases were submitted to the CAS ad hoc division in Atlanta.­

Since 1996, ad hoc divisions have been created for each edition of the Olympic Summer and Winter Games. Ad hoc divisions were also set up for the Commonwealth Games since 1998, for the UEFA European Championship since 2000 and for the FIFA World Cup in 2006.­ ­

The Court of Arbitration for Sport was also asked by UEFA, European football's governing body, to create an ad hoc division for the European Football Championships held in Belgium and the Netherlands in June and July 2000. This was repeated for the European Championships held in Portugal (2004) and in Switzerland/Austria (2008).­ ­

The success of these ad hoc divisions has played a large part in making the Court of Arbitration for Sport known among athletes, sports organisations and the media all over the world. The creation of this ad hoc structure is unquestionably a key point in the history of the CAS.­

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