A ground breaking decision has been issued today by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) following a joint request for arbitration made by the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) and the International Olympic Committee (IOC).
The request was initiated in response to the Olympic ban of United States 400m runner La Shawn Merritt. Merritt won the 400m gold medal in Beijing Olympic Games in 2008 but received a two year ban in 2009 (which was later reduced to 21 months on a finding of exceptional circumstances) after testing positive for a banned substance.
The decision made by the IOC Executive Board on 27 June 2008 at a meeting in Osaka, Japan prohibited athletes who had been suspended for more than six months for an anti-doping rule violation from participating in the next Olympic Games following the expiration of their suspension. This ruling meant that Merritt was banned from competing in the London Olympic Games 2012. The decision equally impacted a number of other athletes from around the world.
The rule known as the “Osaka Rule” was challenged by the USOC and IOC in April 2011 when the parties voluntarily entered into an Arbitration Agreement with respect to a dispute as to the validity and enforceability of the Osaka Rule. The Agreement provided that CAS would determine the dispute according to the applicable regulations and rules of law.
CAS concluded that the Osaka Rule is not in compliance with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code as it created further provisions to the sanction already imposed by WADA after the sanction has been served. The Panel further held that the IOC’s inclusion of the WADA Code in its own governing statute rendered the Osaka Rule a violation of the IOC’s own Statutes, therefore concluding it to be an invalid and enforceable rule. The finding consequentially meant that Merritt’s 2012 Olympic ban was overturned.
The approach of the CAS Panel could potentially lead to challenges to the British Olympic Association (BOA) in respect of the bylaw that imposes a lifetime ban from Olympic Games following a WADA Code violation. However, the BOA is expected to robustly defend its position.
