CAS and the temporary court that will decide Vinesh Phogat's medal fate

Vinesh Phogat announced her retirement after being disqualified from wrestling at the Paris Olympics 2024 for being 100 grams overweight.

This is the first time that millions of Indians would have heard of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), first set up in Lausanne in Switzerland in 1984. Vinesh Phogat's appeal against her disqualification from the women’s 50kg freestyle wrestling at the Paris Olympics has shone a light on the organisation that could make a decision in the next few hours.

Till now, CAS was most in the spotlight after Manchester City successfully appealed a two-year ban from European football competitions back in 2020. At the time, CAS cleared the club of “disguising equity funds as sponsorship contributions".

They had been banned in February, 2020 after UEFA, European football's governing body, found City guilty of multiple breaches of its old Financial Fair Play regulations.

Apart from Switzerland, CAS courts are there in Sydney and New York City. They also set up temporary offices in whichever city hosts the Olympic Games. In Paris, they are located in the 17th arrondissement, and the ad hoc panel is presided over by the USA’s Michael Lenard, France's Carole Malinvaud and Austria’s Elisabeth Steiner. Nine other members are present in Paris, while three more join proceedings remotely.

A media release issued earlier said: “The CAS Ad hoc Division guarantees free access to high quality dispute resolution services conducted within a timeframe consistent with the competition schedule as decisions can be rendered within 24 hours in urgent matters.” In most cases, the panel is expected to hand down a decision within 24 hours of an appeal being lodged.

They have already been involved in a couple of high-profile cases during these Olympic Games. After Marta, the Brazilian women's football legend, was banned for two games following a straight red card against Spain on July 31, Brazil appealed the decision which meant she would miss both the quarterfinal and semi-final if they got that far. But CAS dismissed the appeal. Marta, however, will now play the final thanks to Brazil's stunning 4-2 upset of Spain in the last four.

In another case, the Canadian women's football team's appeal against a six-point deduction was also rejected after they were found guilty of spying on New Zealand’s practice sessions with drones.

United World Wrestling (UWW), the governing body for the sport, had already ruled out any leniency for Vinesh. “On IOA's suggestion that a wrestler's results from the day on which the athlete met the weigh-in requirements should not be disqualified, the UWW President was sympathetic,” said a statement. “UWW will also discuss the suggestion at an appropriate platform but it could not be done retrospectively.”

Given that the rules are there in black and white, it's hard to see CAS intervening in India’s favour.

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