CAS opens its office in Vancouver

Vancouver, 4 February 2010 – The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has opened an office in Vancouver in order to resolve all legal disputes which may arise during the XXI Olympic Winter Games.

This special section of the CAS, called CAS ad hoc Division, operated successfully in previous editions of the Olympic Games since Atlanta 1996. Such a tribunal was also created on the occasion of the Commonwealth Games, the European Football Championships and the FIFA World Cup. The CAS ad hoc Division will render its decisions free of charge and within time limits that keep pace with the competitions.

The Tribunal for the Olympic Games in Vancouver is presided over by the Hon. Judge Juan Torruella (Puerto Rico) and composed of the following eight arbitrators chosen for their expertise in arbitration and sports law: Mr Henri Alvarez QC (Canada), Mr Olivier Carrard (Switzerland), Mr Yves Fortier QC (Canada), Professor Michael Geistlinger (Austria), Mr David Grace (Australia), Professor Ulrich Haas (Germany), Mr Chi Liu (China), Mr José Juan Pínto (Spain). The President and the eight arbitrators have been selected by the International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS), an independent body, under the aegis of which the CAS operates. The CAS office in Vancouver is headed by its Secretary General, Mr Matthieu Reeb.

All members of the CAS ad hoc Division who are present in Vancouver during the Games are either lawyers, judges or professors specialized in sports law and arbitration. They are independent of the parties who appear before the CAS and apply a procedure (set out in the Arbitration Rules for the Olympic Games) that complies with fundamental principles of procedural fairness and due process.

Under the CAS rules applicable in Vancouver, if during the Olympic Games a person or sports entity wishes to submit a dispute to the ad hoc Division under the terms of Rule 59 of the Olympic Charter, he/she/it must file a request with the CAS Court Office in Vancouver. The President of the ad hoc Division sets up a Panel of three arbitrators and appoints a hearing on short notice at which all parties, witnesses and possible interested third parties are given the opportunity to express their legal arguments and to produce evidence.

As a rule, the CAS renders its decisions within 24 hours. This is made possible by specially designed logistics and organizational structures. The CAS is operational in Vancouver until 28 February 2010.

The CAS offices in Vancouver are located at:

Renaissance Vancouver Hotel Harbourside

1133 West Hastings Street, 3rd floor

CA-Vancouver, B.C: V6E 3T3

Tel : (1 604) 403 9558 fax : (1 778) 328 5461

The CAS is a permanent arbitration institution founded in 1984 and specialized in the resolution of sports law disputes. It has its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, with decentralized offices in New York and Sydney. The CAS handles approximately 300 cases per year.

For further information, please contact Mr. Matthieu Reeb, CAS Secretary General, tel : (+1 604) 404 2446