Abu Dhabi gets sport arbitration court
May 13, 2012 (Menafn - Khaleej Times - McClatchy-Tribune Information Services via COMTEX) --Abu Dhabi has another first. The UAE capital will house one of the alternative hearing centres of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which is the Court set up to deal with sports-related disputes, officially opened its Abu Dhabi Centre of the Court of Arbitration for Sport at the Al Jazira Towers of the Al Jazira Sports Club on Saturday.
With the opening, Abu Dhabi became the first city in the world to host the CAS chamber outside its headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland.
The CAS currently has its headquarters in Lausanne and the courts are located in New York (USA), Sydney (Australia) and Lausanne.
Abu Dhabi will be one of three cities which will house an alternative hearing centre. The other two will be in Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur.
The Abu Dhabi Centre of the CAS is a joint venture between the International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS) and the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD).
The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department and ICAS had signed an agreement in February this year to set up the Centre in Abu Dhabi. The agreement was signed as per the directives of Shaikh Mansour bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Deputy Prime Minister of the UAE and the Minister of Presidential Affairs.
"ICAS of CAS was established in 1994 to facilitate the resolution of sports-related disputes. A total of 365 cases were registered in 2011 of which 50 per cent were related to football.
"We had transfer disputes and contract disputes. Sport has become a worldwide activity and we now have 205 National Olympic Committees around the world. There are also non-Olympic sports and the Paralympic movement.
"We also have the Asian Games, the African Games, Pan-Pacific Games, etc. So, the CAS is conscious of the fact that it should provide better results quickly. To this end, we are using video conferencing regarding disputes when we cannot in our headquarters in Lausanne, New York and Sydney," John D Coates, President of the ICAS Board, said on Saturday.
"So, we are setting up alternative hearing centres in Abu Dhabi, Shanghai and Kuala Lumpur. Abu Dhabi is the first opening of the alternative hearing centres. We are thankful to the UAE Government and the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department (ADJD) for their support and we look forward to working with them," he added.
Coates said that the hearings will also take place in Arabic and he also added that the ICAS Board may hold its annual meetings in Abu Dhabi. "Hearings will also take place in Arabic and I'm also keen to bring the full Board here," said Coates.
Sultan Saeed Al Badi, the under secretary of the Abu Dhabi Judicial Department said: "The Abu Dhabi Judicial Department is extremely proud to be selected by the ICAS for this partnership."
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