Vinge has advised the SOC in a highly publicised and fundamentally important arbitration concerning the selection process for the Paris Olympics. In the case, CAS ruled that the SOC’s selection rules for the Olympic Games are fully permissible.
Days before the opening ceremony of the Olympic Games in Paris, an urgent arbitration was decided in the Court of Arbitration for Sport, CAS, in which a number of athletes appealed the decision of SOC not to select them for the Paris Olympics.
Following an expedited arbitration, CAS ruled in favour of the SOC on 26 July 2024, the same day as the opening of the Olympic Games, but without providing any reasons for its decision.
CAS has now announced its reasons for the award. In a landmark ruling for the international sports movement, CAS now states that National Olympic Committees may apply their own, stricter selection criteria than the international qualification limits and rules set by international sports federations (e.g. World Aquatics, World Athletics, etc.), which was the main issue in the proceedings.
CAS thus confirms that the selection rules applied by SOC for the Paris Games are in accordance with The Olympic Charter, the highest legal authority of the Olympic Games. The SOC has issued the following press release.
CAS is an international body based in Switzerland that deals with disputes in sport, including player transfers, sponsorship contracts, doping and other disciplinary issues.
Vinge has worked with the SOC since 2016, and in 2020 entered into a long-term partnership with the Swedish Paralympic Committee (SPC) as official business legal adviser, read more here.
Vinge’s team in the CAS dispute consisted of James Hope, Nils Ivars and Sebastian Saadieh
