Capital's sporting gains from CAS

The choice of Abu Dhabi to house the first Alternate Hearing Centre of the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS) is a reflection of the UAE's reputation as a great sporting hub as well as a recognition of the highest judicial standards in the country. Abu Dhabi, in the last decade, has come of age as far as staging international sporting events like the Formula One, Fifa Club World Cup, the European PGA golf, and the season-opening Mubadala international tennis championship, apart from a series of world championships in various events like Brazilian jiu jitsu, powerboat racing, and Wake Park World series, among others. While various sporting academies have opened their branches here, this latest endeavour is an initiative of Shaikh Mansour Bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Presidential Affairs, who in his capacity as the Chairman of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department, facilitated the setting up of the CAS centre in the UAE capital. Meanwhile, John D. Coates, president of CAS, has urged sports federations in the region to opt for its jurisdiction in solving disputes arising out of the administration of their respective sport. "We will have to have jurisdiction and we get jurisdiction either by the parties agreeing or by being embedded in the institutions," Coates told Gulf News in an exclusive interview when he was here to open the Abu Dhabi centre. "There has to be an acceptance of the CAS jurisdiction in arbitration clauses, they need to be embedded in the respective National Olympic Committee (NOC) statutes," he said "The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and most NOCs have it. My Australian Olympic Committee has it and all international federations have it," Coates said. "The IOC would like that and they [CAS jurisdiction clauses] need to be embedded in their national federation's statutes," explained Coates, adding that the tremendous growth of sport in the region necessitated it. "The National Federations in the region need it. I am not sure that all of the NOCs here in the Middle East have it. The Association of NOCs recommends they have it. I don't think they have all got it yet," Coates said. "We ask them now that this office is here, to incorporate the relevant statutes and agreements in their jurisdiction clauses." The CAS Abu Dhabi Alternate Hearing Centre will hold arbitration hearings and will organise meetings, seminars and other activities related to the development and promotion of sports law in the region. Facilities The Abu Dhabi office of the sporting world's highest court will also handle all local, regional and international sports-related disputes and provide the required facilities to conduct video conferences with experts and witnesses from around the world. "At the moment, there are only three CAS arbitrators in this region. We will help train more through seminars and sports law conferences," Coates said. "We can bring arbitrators in from other parts of the world." "As well as providing for hearings in Arabic, we are keen to explore the translation of our CAS case code into Arabic as part of our support for arbitrators and sports law practitioners," he said. "The International Council for Arbitration for Sport which administers CAS is conscious that there are hurdles for parties seeking recourse to CAS arbitration. To this end we are increasingly using video conferences and we have decided to establish more Alternate Hearing Centres in regions that cannot easily be serviced by Lausanne, New York and Sydney," the CAS president said. "We look forward to working with Abu Dhabi to work towards the greater acceptance of CAS jurisdiction among the NOC and sport federations of the region. I am keen to bring the full council of the CAS Board here for one of our regular meetings to assist Abu Dhabi in conducting a sports law seminar in Abu Dhabi in the not too distant future," Coates said.