The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has issued its decision in the appeal filed by the Japanese hammer thrower Koji Murofushi and the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) against the International Olympic Committee (IOC) concerning the IOC Executive Board’s decision of 11 August 2012 to withdraw Mr Murofushi’s candidacy for the IOC Athletes’ Commission elections.

The International Tennis Federation’s Anti-Doping Programme (the “ITF Programme”) has been under fire recently by some of the sports highest profile players, who have urged it to be more aggressive in the fight against doping. 

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed filed by Jacques Anouma against the African Football Confederation (CAF) regarding his candidacy for the CAF presidency. The Ivorian Football Federation (FIF) had proposed the candidature of Mr Anouma for the presidential election of 10 March 2013, a nomination which was declared inadmissible by the CAF Executive Committee on the ground that Mr Anouma was not and had never been a member of the CAF Executive Committee (a condition provided for in the CAF Statutes adopted in September 2012).

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has dismissed the appeal of the Jamaican sprinter Steve Mullings against the decision of the Disciplinary Panel of the Jamaican Anti-Doping Commission (JADCO) on 22 November 2011 which sanctioned him with a lifetime ineligibility following a second anti-doping rule violation.

It is beyond question that sports law is at its most advanced in Europe and America. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for sports law in Asia, which lags way behind Europe and America at both the working and research levels. Thus, when we take into account the prominence of Asia on the world stage from the perspectives of economics and population, this undoubtedly illustrates the pressing need to improve and develop sports law throughout the region.

First published in the Guardian 18th December 2012

"A lie detector test properly administered, I'm a proponent of that frankly, just personally. I wouldn't challenge a lie detector test, with good equipment, properly administered" Tim Herman, lawyer for Lance Armstrong, 14 October 2012.

Given this widely-reported statement of Lance Armstrong's lawyer, and the acceptance of polygraph evidence by CAS for the first time in the recent Contador¹ case, the use of lie detectors in sport has come under increased scrutiny. Could polygraph testing offer a solution for sport's doping and integrity issues?

Before the London 2012 Paralympic Games ('the Games') began this summer I attended a talk by Michael Beloff QC, a leading sports law practitioner and prominent Court of Arbitration for Sport ('CAS') arbitrator, titled 'CAS and the Olympics 2012'. At the end of his review of the cases before the CAS ad hoc Division ('AHD') at the Olympics a question was asked, "Is there going to be an AHD at the Paralympics?" He replied that there wouldn't be because the International Paralympic Committee ('IPC') had not asked for one.

For the first time in history, an award of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) was annulled by the Swiss Federal Tribunal because it violated fundamental principles of law, the so called substantive public policy. This marks the first time that a CAS award has been overruled based on substantive law and not procedural law.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has upheld the decision by the Professional Tennis Integrity Officers (PTIOs) to impose a lifetime ban on the Serbian tennis player David Savic. Savic, who reached a high of 363 in the world rankings, was found guilty of 'contriving or attempting to contrive the outcome of an event' in October 2011 following reports that he invited another player to engage in match fixing. Although the details of the allegations have never been disclosed, CAS considered that the 'disputed facts had been proven not only by a preponderance of the evidence but indeed to the panel's comfortable satisfaction'.

Three Paralympic powerlifting athletes tested positive for human growth hormones prior to the London Paralympic games. The athletes, two from Russia and one from Georgia, were tested as part of the International Paralympic Committee's (IPC) most efficient and effective testing regime ever implemented at a Paralympic games. Each athlete has received a two year ban and £1200 fine for the offences.

CAS OG 12/02 Ward v IOC, AIBA and ANOC: Contractual interpretation

The second decision rendered by CAS ad hoc at London 2012 involved the dismissal of a request by an Irish boxer, Joe Ward, who challenged his non-qualification for the 2012 Games. Ward was highly rated and seen as a genuine medal hope for the Irish team, which did extremely well at the 2012 Games.

First of all, and after a delay, it's good to be back to "blogging". The delay is attributable to three reasons (a) summer laziness; (b) the editing of a book on leading sports law cases, now sent off for publication by Asser/Springer at the end of the year; and (c) watching the Olympics or as I say to my Head of School – "engaging in primary research". BTW: very interesting article in the BBC's online magazine today on cheating at the Paralympics, which can be accessed here.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) registered today the statement of appeal filed by the Japanese athlete Koji Murofushi and the Japanese Olympic Committee (JOC) against the decision of the Executive Board of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) dated 11 August 2012 to withdraw Murofushi as a candidate for election to the IOC Athletes' Commission.

The ad hoc Division ("AHD") of the Court of Arbitration for Sport ("CAS") plays a vital role in major sporting events, notably the Olympics, but it operates on a level so inconspicuous that its impact is barely recognised.

The CAS, with its seat in Lausanne, Switzerland, is the supreme tribunal for sports disputes across the world. Only a minority of sports bodies (Formula 1 and the Football Association being the most notable) do not refer their disputes to CAS. Among its many services is the AHD, a fast-track tribunal operating to resolve disputes during the course of competitions. View our CAS ad hoc Division cases chart.

With London 2012 well underway, the Games has so far passed without too much controversy – save for the much-maligned, woeful recent performance of eight women's badminton players disqualified after being accused of "not using one's best efforts to win"