German federal court rules against speedskater Pechstein
UNE 7, 2016 4:49 AM
The German federal court ruled against Olympic speedskating champion Claudia Pechstein on Tuesday in her long dispute with the sport's governing body over a doping ban.
BY NESHA STARCEVIC
AP Sports Writer
FRANKFURT, GERMANY
The German federal court ruled against Olympic speedskating champion Claudia Pechstein on Tuesday in her long dispute with the sport's governing body over a doping ban.
The ruling also affirmed the role of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which could have lost its authority if the decision had gone in Pechstein's favor.
A visibly distressed Pechstein left the courtroom without comment but her lawyer said they would appeal to Germany's constitutional court.
The International Skating Union (ISU) banned Pechstein in 2009 for two years on the basis of suspicious blood tests. She never failed a drug test and has insisted she has an inherited blood condition.
The ruling by Germany's highest civil court (BGH) in Karlsruhe prevents her from seeking compensation from the ISU.
The federal court was acting on an appeal by the ISU against a Munich court's decision that she had the right to go to a German court and not only to CAS.
"We are deeply disappointed. It wasn't the last word," Pechstein's lawyer, Thomas Summerer, said.
One central issue of the case was whether she was forced to give up her legal rights by signing an agreement that made CAS the sole court of arbitration.
Pechstein, a five-time Olympic gold medalist, argued that the ISU abused its monopoly to enforce a legal requirement that favors the sports associations over athletes.
The BGH said that even though ISU was a monopoly, the way CAS was set up meant that athletes get a fair hearing, especially as they can appeal to the Swiss courts.
The ruling said Pechstein has no right to seek redress from German courts.
"The plaintiff signed the arbitration agreement of her own free will. The fact that she was required by others to do so, or else she wouldn't have been able to compete, doesn't invalidate the agreement," the court said in its ruling.
The core of Pechstein's case was that CAS was biased in favor of sports authorities such as the International Olympic Committee and governing bodies, and against athletes and individuals who are obliged to respect the court's authority.
Pechstein, now 44 and still competing, could challenge her doping ban only at CAS. She also lost a subsequent appeal at Switzerland's supreme court, which can overturn CAS verdicts if legal process was abused.
The BGH said CAS was a "real" arbitration tribunal that provides advantages not only for federations but also for athletes through "uniform standards and speedy decisions."
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Major boost for CAS after Pechstein's claim for damages rejected by German Federal Court
By Nick Butler at the Sheraton Dubrovnik Riviera Hotel Tuesday, 7 June 2016
Claudia Pechstein has been unsuccessfully in her appeal to the German Federal Court ©Getty ImagesSport's legal right to govern itself has received a major boost today after the German Federal Court ruled against Claudia Pechstein's claim for damages from the International Skating Union (ISU) for loss of earnings during a doping ban.
Pechstein had been challenging the arbitration of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), and, if successful, this would have ended the body's status as the effective "Supreme Court" of the sports world.
The German, a five-time Olympic speed skating champion and medallist at every Winter Games between Albertville 1992 and Turin 2006, was banned for two years by the ISU in 2009 due to irregular blood results.
The 44-year-old, the most successful Olympic speed skater of all-time, never failed a drugs test and put the readings in her biological passport down to an inherited condition from her father.
After being forced to miss Vancouver 2010 following an unsuccessful appeal to Lausanne-based CAS, she returned to compete at a sixth Games at Sochi 2014.
But she continued to protest her innocence and made the unprecedented step of taking her case to the German Civil Court.
Pechstein claimed that she was forced to give up her legal rights by signing an agreement that made CAS the sole court of arbitration, insisting also that the independence of the body was influenced by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and other sporting organisations.
Athletes "don’t have a chance at a fair trial", she claimed, due to this influence.
The skater was controversially given permission last year to press ahead with a lawsuit demanding €4.4 million (£3.19 million/$4.74 million) in damages for lost earnings in the period of her suspension following a decision by the Appeals Court of Munich in January 2015.
But the Bundesgerichtshof Federal Court, Germany's highest civil legal body, has now overturned this decision.
"The plaintiff signed the arbitration agreement [with CAS] of her own free will," their verdict today said.
"The fact that she was required by others to do so, or else she wouldn't have been able to compete, doesn't invalidate the agreement."
They added that CAS was a "real" arbitration tribunal that benefits both federations and athletes through "uniform standards and speedy decisions".
Pechstein left the courtroom in Karlsruhe visibly distressed but without making a comment.
The ISU is no longer required to pay her damages.
However, her lawyer Thomas Summere claimed the case is not completely over and that they now intend to appeal to the Constitutional Courts.
"We are deeply disappointed - it wasn't the last word," he said.
But, even if the door is not completely closed, the verdict will come as a huge relief to CAS, a body which has been accepted as the Supreme Court of world sport ever since it was set-up in 1984.
If the Civil Court had supported Pechstein, it would have effectively ended its autonomy and set a precedent for athletes to take-up cases with civil authorities rather than sporting ones.
"If we win it is clear that athletes will no longer be forced to submit to the CAS, as long as CAS is based as it is," Summerer had said before the verdict.
It was thus billed as among the most significant sporting legal cases since the 1995 Bosman ruling in the European Court of Justice judgment that changed football transfer rules and is now credited with helping players - and agents - earn far greater profits from transfers.
Today's decision comes at a time where sports bodies are facing greater challenges to their autonomy due to recent doping and corruption scandals.
CAS - whose head is IOC vice-president and Australian Olympic Committee boss John Coates - is also playing an increasingly important role in preciding over doping cases at August's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.
The news will also overshadow the second day of the ISU Congress here where a new President is due to be elected to replace Italy's Ottavio Cinquanta after 22 years at the helm.
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