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44 Liverpool L. Rev. 1 (2023)

handle is hein.journals/lvplr44 and id is 1 raw text is: 

Liverpool Law Review (2023) 44:1-35
https:Ildoi.org/l0.1007/si0991-022-09316-4




From   Sagen   to Henriques:   Legal  Challenges to Olympic
Event  Selection   Decisions   and  the  Role of the  Court
of Arbitration   for Sport


Marcus  Mazzuccol  Hilary   Findlay2

Accepted: 24 October 2022 / Published online: 26 November 2022
©The Author(s) 2022


Abstract
The interests of athletes are a fundamental aspect of the Olympic Movement. Yet,
athletes face jurisdictional barriers when attempting to advance their interests and
challenge the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s exercise of authority over
the Olympic Movement,  including the IOC's decisions regarding which sport events
are included in the Olympic Games. Previous attempts to challenge the IOC's selec-
tion of sport events for the Olympic Games  have been unsuccessful in national
courts, as seen in the case of Sagen v. Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010
Olympic and  Paralympic Winter Games  (Sagen) involving women's ski jumping.
Following the outcome in Sagen, academics theorized that athletes might have better
success challenging Olympic event selection decisions at the Court of Arbitration
for Sport (CAS), as CAS has several jurisdictional advantages over national courts.
A  recent CAS  decision in Henriques v. IOC (Henriques), involving the exclu-
sion of women's 50 km  race walking from the 2020 Olympic  Games,  casts doubt
on this approach as CAS dismissed the application due to the lack of an arbitration
agreement between the appellants and the IOC. However, the outcome in Henriques
should not deter athletes from using CAS to challenge the IOC's Olympic event
selection decisions in future cases. It is arguable that the CAS panel's reasoning in
Henriques did not properly consider how the arbitration clause in the Olympic Char-
ter could form the basis of an arbitration agreement between the appellants and the
IOC  under Swiss law. Additionally, the CAS panel's decision in Henriques can be
used to inform legal strategies in subsequent disputes to ensure that CAS is able to
hold the IOC accountable for Olympic event selection decisions that are discrimina-
tory or otherwise unlawful.

Keywords  Sports law - Court of Arbitration for Sport - Human rights-
Discrimination - Litigation - Olympic Charter



E D Marcus Mazzucco
   marcus.mazzucco@utoronto.ca
Extended author information available on the last page of the article


1  Springer

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