The CAS Ad Hoc Division dismisses the application filed by Yuberjen Martínez, the Colombian National Olympic Committee and the Colombian Boxing Federation

Tokyo, 5 August 2021 – The Ad Hoc Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the application filed on 4 August 2021 by the Colombian boxer Yuberjen Martínez, the Colombian National Olympic Committee (Colombian NOC) and the Colombian Boxing Federation (CBF) (the Applicants) against the IOC Boxing Task Force in relation to the Quarter Final bout in the Men’s Fly (48-52kg) competition at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 between Yuberjen Martínez and Japanese boxer Ryomei Tanaka.

The Applicants sought a ruling from CAS that Yuberjen Martínez be declared as winner of the bout, or in the alternative, that the bout be declared void and a replay be ordered; or that Yuberjen Martínez be authorised to participate in the semi-final in the event that Ryomei Tanaka is unable to compete due to injury. The Applicants considered that the judges acted in bad faith in declaring Ryomei Tanaka as the winner of the bout.

The Panel of arbitrators appointed to decide this dispute composed of Mr Manfred Nan, President, (Netherlands), Mr Juan Pablo Arriagada (Chile) and Prof. Song Lu (China), held a hearing at 10pm on 4 August 2021 by video conference.

The Applicants acknowledged both in their application and during the hearing that they were familiar with the field of play doctrine and the practical implications thereof, i.e., that such decisions are not overturned by CAS, except in very limited circumstances. In the specific circumstances of this case, the CAS Panel did not find any reason to depart from this long-established jurisprudence, nor was it able to find any legal basis in the AIBA Technical and Competition Rules to uphold the request that Yuberjen Martínez be authorised to participate in the semi-final in the event that Ryomei Tanaka is unable to compete due to injury.

The original article can be found here.