Challenging awards of the court of arbitration for sport

Abstract

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), sitting in Lausanne, Switzerland, is the pinnacle of the worldwide dispute settlement system for sport matters. CAS enjoys significant autonomy from states, despite the great importance of its decisions for the lives of athletes. Setting aside proceedings against CAS arbitral awards may only be filed with the Swiss Supreme Court due to the seat of CAS tribunals being in Lausanne. The number of such setting aside proceedings has greatly increased, to the point that almost half of the Supreme Court's case load relating to international arbitration now concerns CAS awards. The present article critically reviews the most important questions that arise in the context of such setting aside proceedings, with an eye to the practical needs of the actors involved in such procedures.