Very occasionally, an individual's name becomes synonymous with sport for something other than their competitive performances.
The perfect case in point is that of Jean-Marc Bosman, the journeyman Belgian footballer whose legal case surrounding his contractual situation revolutionised football forever. There may just be another case on the horizon which could change the face of sport to a similar extent.
Claudia Pechstein is a German speed skater. She won five Olympic gold medals between 1994 and 2006 but in 2009, she was accused of blood doping by the International Skating Union (ISU) and banned from her sport for two years. Pechstein never failed a doping test, rather, her ban was based on irregularities within her biological passport which is an electronic record of every single drugs test undertaken by an athlete and is designed to flag up any changes which could, potentially, be a sign of doping. The German had elevated levels of reticulocytes in her blood but she blamed this on a genetic condition which, she claimed, she had inherited from her father, rather than any attempt on her part to cheat.
Pechstein took her case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which upheld the punishment dished out by the ISU and so her ban stood- she would be banned from all competition for two years. That CAS supported the ISU's punishment was a severe blow for Pechstein as the Court is generally accepted to be the final stop for any sport-related disputes.
CAS is a quasi-judicial body made up of almost 300 sports law experts and has been dealing with sport's most contentious issues for over 30 years. From drugs cases, to contractual wrangles to reallocating medals, CAS has dealt with it all. It was CAS who overturned the British Olympic Association's prohibition on any British athlete who had failed a drugs test ever being selected for the Olympic Games. It was also CAS which upheld the recent 12 month transfer ban meted out to Barcelona football club by FIFA.
While these decisions may have been unpopular in some quarters, CAS's verdict was respected. This, however, is where Pechstein's case comes in. Following her unsuccessful appeal against her ban to CAS, her lawyers took her case to the German courts, seeking £3 million in damages from the ISU. The Higher Regional Court in Munich overturned CAS's dismissal of the case and is allowing Pechstein's case to be heard in a civil court in her home nation. This decision by the German Higher Regional Court has not overturned the ruling that Pechstein committed a doping offence- merely it allows her case to be heard in a civil court. Nevertheless, this is the first time that such a turn of events has occurred and it could, ultimately, be a ground-breaking and game-changing decision within the world of sport.
Until now, CAS has been widely accepted as the final arbiter in any sporting dispute, with almost all sporting contracts acknowledging this to be the case and, until now, CAS's judgment has been accepted and abided by. But Pechstein's case may change all of that. The Munich court which overruled CAS's decision came to two simple conclusions- that no valid arbitration had occurred and that the process was unfair. This conclusion was reached as Pechstein had no choice but to enter into the agreement with the ISU if she ever wanted to compete again and that the CAS panel was unfairly skewed in favour of governing bodies.
The reason the Munich court's judgment is quite so pertinent is that Pechstein's case calls into question whether arbitration really is the best way to settle disputes within sport. Until now, sport has, by and large, policed itself; if Pechstein's appeal is successful, this will all change. All of a sudden, CAS will not have the final say regarding any disputes. There have been other athletes who considered challenging CAS's decision in a judicial court, including Scotland's Alain Baxter who almost took his case to the European Court of Human Rights, but none have gone through with it. That Pechstein has continued her fight, and been successful in questioning CAS's ruling, could change the face of sport forever.
If her case is ultimately successful then that would mean that CAS's rulings would not apply throughout Germany and this would significantly weaken the authority of the Court. Currently, athletes choose to go to arbitration rather than civil court because it is cheaper, quicker and has specialist sports knowledge. But the system only works if athletes have faith in it and trust the judgment of the Court. As CAS's workload has increased- it presides over more than 300 cases per year now- it is not as expedient an option as it previously has been. It remains likely that CAS will survive in the short-term, at least. But as the sums of money in sport increase, so too will the will of athletes to fight their case in any way they can. And thanks to Pechstein, that may now mean in a civil court rather than CAS.
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