Just Ruling, Defending the Olympic Spirit (My Winter Olympic Story (I)

Bai Xianyue was at the opening ceremony of the Beijing Winter Olympics. Courtesy of respondents

In the Olympic Games, if there is a dispute between athletes, or if one party is dissatisfied with the relevant judgment, who will finally make the final judgment?

At the Beijing Winter Olympics, there is a special arbitral tribunal, the CAS Ad Hoc Arbitral Tribunal for the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, whose arbitrators are required to make fair rulings in the shortest possible time. Bai Xianyue, a lawyer who graduated from Oxford University, is an arbitrator in the CAS Ad Hoc Arbitral Tribunal of the Beijing Winter Olympics (hereinafter referred to as the Ad Hoc Arbitral Tribunal of the Beijing Winter Olympics).

Pursue fairness, justice and efficiency

"Disputes arising during or in connection with Olympic sports shall be governed by the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)." Bai Xianyue said that the International Court of Arbitration for Sport is headquartered in Lausanne, Switzerland, and aims to handle international sports disputes.

The Ad Hoc Arbitral Tribunal for the Olympic Games shall primarily resolve all Sports Disputes relating to the Olympic Games that occur during the Olympic Games and within 10 days prior to the opening of the Games. Bai Xianyue, a partner of Grandall Lawyers (Tianjin), has been appointed as an arbitrator in an ad hoc arbitral tribunal, and he has also served as an arbitrator for a number of arbitration institutions, including the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission.

In the early 1980s, world sports, especially transnational sports within the Olympic family, flourished, accompanied by various sports disputes. The IOC recognizes that within the Olympic system, it is imperative to establish an authoritative, efficient and independent sports dispute resolution body dedicated to handling sports-related disputes.

Under the impetus of the then President of the International Olympic Committee, Samaranch, in June 1984, the International Court of Arbitration for Sport was officially established as a subsidiary body of the International Olympic Committee. Subsequently, its independence, neutrality, and especially its influence have continued to increase. At the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, the Olympic ad hoc arbitral tribunal first appeared and has been used ever since.

"The ultimate purpose of the ad hoc arbitral tribunal is to pursue fairness, justice and efficiency, protect the rights of athletes and defend the Olympic spirit." Bai Xianyue said.

According to Bai Xianyue, the scope of his case is to accept and adjudicate any relevant disputes or disputes during the Olympic Games, including three main categories of sports-related categories: one is disputes over athletes' qualifications; the other is disputes involving doping; and the third is various types of penalties, technical referees, and event disputes.

"When the applicant decides to appeal to the Ad Hoc Arbitral Tribunal of the Olympic Games against the decision of the International Olympic Committee, a national Olympic Committee, the International Sports Federation, the Organizing Committee of the Olympic Games and other institutions, it must exhaust all remedies in accordance with the relevant laws and regulations, the regulations of sports organizations, etc., before it can file an application for arbitration at the ad hoc arbitral tribunal of the Olympic Games." Bai Xianyue said.

Becoming an arbitrator "obstructs and is long"

There are 13 arbitrators in the list of arbitrators in the ad hoc arbitral tribunals of the Beijing Winter Olympic Games, including 9 sports dispute arbitral tribunals and 4 anti-doping arbitral tribunals. Bai Xianyue has been elected as an arbitrator of the ad hoc arbitral tribunal for the Beijing Winter Olympics since October 2021.

The ad hoc arbitral tribunals of the Olympic Games are impartial, efficient, flexible, free of charge and apply a set of rules separately. In Bai Xianyue's view, there are particularities in sports disputes - the limited professional life of athletes themselves and the timeliness of sports competitions. This makes the need for a quick and fair resolution of sports disputes even stronger and more urgent.

"Prioritizing efficiency is a prominent feature of the ad hoc arbitral tribunals of the Olympic Games." Bai Xianyue said. In principle, an arbitral award should be made within 24 hours of filing. In practice, the chairman of an ad hoc arbitral tribunal has the power to extend it according to the specific circumstances of the case.

International arbitration for sport is so important that it is even more difficult to become an international arbitrator.

Bai Xianyue said that to serve as an arbitrator of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, there are four conditions: one is to have appropriate legal training; the other is to have recognized ability in sports law and international arbitration; the third is to be proficient in an official language used by the Court of Arbitration for Sport; and the fourth is to have a general and extensive understanding of sports.

"To be recognized by international peers, the obstacle is long, not a day's work." Bai Xianyue said that if an ordinary lawyer wants to become an arbitrator, his professional qualifications, comprehensive quality, professional ability, and industry popularity are all factors to consider, which require years of accumulation, and sometimes even need to cultivate related fields for more than 10 years.

In addition, ad hoc arbitral tribunals will not participate in the adjudication of specific competitions and will not express their opinions or take a position on the outcome of the referees of the competitions themselves, unless extreme exceptions are found that constitute a violation of procedural justice. Under normal circumstances, it will not determine the outcome of the game or overturn the referee's decision.

China's international arbitration team has grown rapidly

In 1996, Professor Su Mingzhong was elected as an arbitrator of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, becoming the first Chinese arbitrator. Today, the Court of Arbitration for Sport has 11 Chinese arbitrators.

In 2018, Bai Xianyue was appointed by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to participate in the Jakarta Asian Games as the presiding arbitrator of the Asian Games Sports Arbitration Tribunal.

"China is becoming more and more active in the field of international sports arbitration, and its communication ability with international counterparts is increasing." Bai Xianyue said that in recent years, China has significantly strengthened its participation and interaction in international sports, large-scale events, professional activities and other fields, China's international arbitration team is also growing rapidly, and more and more Chinese international arbitrators are participating in international arbitration cases, which has generally shown a positive trend.

Behind the sports competition, there is a need for the rule of law to escort. Bai Xianyue believes that the academic community will strengthen the research on the resolution of issues related to sports law and sports disputes, and do a good job in legal risk prevention and planning, which will effectively help host more international sports events in the future and provide a strong legal guarantee for the mainland to become a sports power. "The legislative level of China's sports law is increasingly in line with international standards. In the future, sports arbitration and sports rule of law will surely usher in a more prosperous era. It is expected that the progress of the rule of law in sports will resonate with the vigorous development of sports in the mainland. Bai Xianyue said.