Olympic Sports Law

Yesterday, our group had the unique privilege of gaining real time, real world experience with an individual on the Court of Arbitration of Sport. This is the organization that decides appeals regarding sporting infractions with International Federations, National Governing Bodies, and Olympic Athletes. Maidie Oliveau is a sports lawyer at the firm Arent Fox who belongs to the Ad Hoc division of CAS. Because the Olympic Games are such a large event, the Ad Hoc division is actually on-site in each of the host cities.

We had the neat opportunity to discuss with Oliveau current Olympic events and disputes to learn how her job works. There were three important takeaways from our meeting. First, we learned that working on the CAS is a fast-paced and intense job. The CAS guarantees they will decide a case within 24 hours if necessary, and it is not surprising that she received 4 phone calls during our 45 minutes together. Next, with my particular interest in law, I asked about the status of common and civil law within the CAS. It was interesting to learn that although the Court operates under civil law, because decisions are made public, there are precedents set. Lastly, we learned that the Court is NOT a group of referees. The only decisions they make are based on legal actions (not sport actions). Therefore, even if the referees make a mistake, without a fraudulent or illegal action involved, rulings will not be overturned.

Posted by olympian on August 2, 2012 | Filed under: GWSB News.