Appointment to Court of Arbitration for Sport

Employment partner Jonathan Rennie has been appointed by the International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS) as an Arbitrator at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), based in Lausanne, Switzerland.

CAS is the supreme court of sports dispute resolution. It is independent of any sports organisation and settles global sports disputes through its own set of procedural rules.  CAS sets up non-permanent tribunals for the Olympic Games and other similar major sporting events. CAS also determines disputes of a commercial nature (e.g. sponsorship contracts) or of a disciplinary nature following a decision by a sports organisation (e.g. a doping case or an eligibility case).

There have been various high-profile cases before CAS in the last few years, including the Caster Semenya DSD eligibility case, the Emiliano Sala Cardiff compensation case and the Sun Yang Olympic swimmer disqualification case. 

Generally speaking, the arbitrator role is to sit on a panel of three judges.  The parties choose the arbitrator from the CAS list. The hearings are held in person in Lausanne.

Alongside this new role, Jonathan will continue supporting various sports bodies, including the England FA, where he recently chaired the mass confrontation case involving Tottenham Hotspur and Brighton. In 2022, Jonathan sat on the ad hoc disciplinary panels for the Commonwealth Games and Rugby League World Cup.

For more information on TLT’s Sports sub-sector see here.