The Swiss Federal Tribunal’s key sports law judgments of 2024
This article summarises key judgments from the Swiss Federal Tribunal in 2024 in the field of sports law. The main principles examined relate to:
- Decision to reduce a contractual penalty in a football-related dispute and right to be heard
- Pleas of inequality of the parties and delay to issue the CAS Award in a doping-related case
- European Convention of Human Rights invoked directly before the SFT after Caster Semenya judgment
- Proportionality of a doping sanction imposed on a minor athlete and violation of public policy
- Conflict of interests in sports administration and the (high) threshold to establish violation of public policy in sports disciplinary sanctions
- Football-related labour law disputes of ‘international dimension’ and jurisdiction of state courts
- Importance of clear evidence in arbitration proceedings and limited scope of review of alleged procedural violations by the SFT
- Requests for joinder and intervention under the CAS Code are not ‘essential rules’ falling within the scope of public policy
- On the limited scope of the ‘effet de surprise’ – the case of the former President of the European Weightlifting Federation Hasan Akkus
- Very restrictive notion of ‘abuse of rights’ in employment claims based on mandatory labour law in football
- Proportionality of a doping sanction imposed on a minor athlete – the SFT Judgment in the case of Kamila Valieva
- No excessive formalism in case of filing the statement of appeal at the CAS only by email
- Evidence submitted late pursuant to Art. R44.1 of the CAS Code and right to be heard
- Right to be heard does not include a right to cross-examine a witnesses who provided written statement
- De novo review and wide powers in the assesment of the evidence by the CAS in appeal
- Inadmissible criticisms of appellatory nature – the challenge of the IOC Decision to withdraw its recognition of the International Boxing Association
A more detailed summary note of each case (as written by the author) can be found in the footnotes.
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- Tags: Athlete Welfare | Athletics | Contract | Court of Arbitration for Sports | Dispute Resolution | Employment | Football | Human Rights | Olympics | Safeguarding | Swiss Federal Tribunal | Switzerland
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Written by
Dr Despina Mavromati
Dr Despina Mavromati is an independent attorney-at-law based in Lausanne, a UEFA Club Financial Control Body Member and an arbitrator at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). She has extensive experience in international sports law and arbitration. She represents athletes, clubs and federations and advises on regulatory and sports governance matters, including the recognition and enforcement of awards and freezing of assets in Switzerland.
Despina has acted as arbitrator, counsel, co-counsel, expert or arbitrator in numerous sports arbitrations, involving contractual, governance, doping-related and other disciplinary and ethics matters. Recognized as a Thought Leader by Who’s Who Legal in Switzerland every year since 2018, “Despina Mavromati is “brilliant and accomplished” and “an amazing lawyer with immense knowledge and expertise when it comes to disputes before the CAS” (Who’s Who Legal 2023).
