THE MATTER PECHSTEIN/MUTU/CAS/SWITZERLAND IS NOW OVER
AND THE ECHR JUDGMENT OF 2 OCTOBER 2018 BECOMES FINAL
AND BINDING
Lausanne, 5 February 2019 - The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has noted the ruling of the
European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in relation to the cases between Claudia Pechstein (speed
skating / Germany), Adrian Mutu (football / Romania) and Switzerland. Following the judgment
rendered by the 3rd Chamber of the ECHR on 2 October 2018, Claudia Pechstein filed a request to
refer the matter to the Grand Chamber of the ECHR, composed of 17 judges. Such request was
dismissed today by a Panel of the ECHR Grand Chamber.
Under Article 44 § 2 (c) of the European Convention on Human Rights, the judgment of a Chamber
becomes final when the Panel of the Grand Chamber rejects the request to refer under Article 43 of
the Convention. It means that the ECHR judgment of 2 October 2018 is now final and binding. With
such judgment, the ECHR confirmed that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) is a genuine
independent arbitration tribunal, offering the guarantees provided by Article 6 § 1 of the European
Convention on Human Rights, and that such sports jurisdiction is necessary for uniformity in sport.
The ECHR also determined that the CAS should have allowed a public hearing considering that
Claudia Pechstein had requested one. Following the recommendation of the ECHR, the CAS has
already implemented new rules in order to allow public hearings in disciplinary and/or ethics matters.
The dispute involving Claudia Pechstein and the International Skating Union (ISU) started in 2009:
- 2009: ISU found the athlete guilty of an anti-doping rule violation and imposed a 2-year ban;
- 2009: the CAS confirmed the sanction;
- 2010: the Swiss Federal Tribunal rejected the appeal filed by the athlete against the CAS award;
- 2010: the Swiss Federal Tribunal rejected the request for judicial review filed by the athlete;
- 2014: the Munich Regional Court affirmed its jurisdiction and partially upheld the claim filed
by the athlete against the ISU;
- 2015: the Higher Regional Court of Munich partially confirmed the decision of the Munich
Regional Court;
- 2016: the German Federal Tribunal upheld the appeal filed by the ISU and recognized the
jurisdiction of CAS;
- 2018: the ECHR rejected the claim filed by the athlete;
- 2019: the ECHR rejected the request of the athlete to refer the matter to the Grand Chamber
of the ECHR for a further judicial review.
CAS was created in 1984 to provide dispute resolution services to the sports world. For over 35 years,
it has settled disputes involving athletes, coaches, federations, sponsors, agents, clubs, leagues and
organizers of sports events from almost every country in the world through arbitration and mediation
procedures. It handles over 550 cases each year.
25 Years at #1: Your best source of news about the Olympics is www.aroundtherings.com, for subscribers only
Recent Articles
Sinner-Alcaraz, the duel that came to succeed the three phenomenons
Beyond the final result, Roland Garros left the feeling that the Italian and the Spaniard will shape the great duel that came to help us through the duel for the end of the Federer-Nadal-Djokovic era.
Table tennis: Brazil’s Bruna Costa Alexandre will be Olympic and Paralympic in Paris 2024
She is the third in her sport and the seventh athlete to achieve it in the same edition; in Santiago 2023 she was the first athlete with disabilities to compete at the Pan American level and won a medal.
Rugby 7s: the best player of 2023 would only play the medal match in Paris
Argentinian Rodrigo Isgró received a five-game suspension for an indiscipline in the circuit’s decisive clash that would exclude him until the final or the bronze match; the Federation will seek to make the appeal successful.
Rhonex Kipruto, owner of the world record for the 10000 meters on the road, was suspended for six years
The Kenyan received the maximum sanction for irregularities in his biological passport and the Court considered that he was part of a system of “deliberate and sophisticated doping” to improve his performance. He will lose his record and the bronze medal at the Doha World Cup.
Katie Ledecky spoke about doping Chinese swimmers: “It’s difficult to go to Paris knowing that we’re going to compete with some of these athletes”
The American, a seven-time Olympic champion, referred to the case of the 23 positive controls before the Tokyo Games that were announced a few weeks ago and shook the swimming world. “I think our faith in some of the systems is at an all-time low,” he said.
