Today, I have tried to update this oft discussed important topic by going a step further to recommend immediate and simple steps that may be taken to actualise ‘CAS’ in Nigeria. I consider it to be very sad indeed that so far, no sports minister has appreciated its significance in our sports development pursuit.
In the absence of an independent, neutral and reliable body in the prevailing sports structure to fairly and definitively resolve sports-related disputes, it is common-place for athletes, administrators and other participants in sports to seek redress in civil courts. Unfortunately, the sports calendar can be easily disrupted by the usually slow litigation process which can also be relatively expensive. In addition, court action, which goes against the Olympic spirit, usually only fans the embers of conflict and discourages the private sector from participating in the development of sports.
That was the impetus for the International Olympic Committee to mid-wife the birth of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1984. And in order to ensure its independence and neutrality, the administration and financing of the CAS have been made the responsibility of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport which is the supreme organ of the CAS. The CAS has since proven to be reliable as the body for the final resolution of sports-related disputes around the world.
The Nigeria Olympic Committee headed by SaniNdanusa took the bold step of inaugurating on June 9, 2011, in Lagos, a Planning Committee of lawyers from all over Nigeria, of which I was privileged to be Chairman, with the charge to develop the legal framework/guidelines for a similar body in Nigeria. The Committee submitted its Report eleven months later.
There is no doubt that with the CAS in Lausanne, Switzerland, serving as the global benchmark for Alternative Dispute Resolution in sports, the setting up of a similar body (which will be the first independent, sports-related dispute resolution body in Africa) will establish order and good governance in the country’s sports community.
However, it is imperative that sports federations, associations, other sports bodies, and athletes, must first acknowledge its significance and voluntarily submit to its jurisdiction in the definitive resolution of sports-related disputes.
Accordingly, the Constitution of the NOC, the draft NSC Bill and the Constitutions/Statutes of sports federations, associations, and other sports bodies in Nigeria will have to be appropriately amended.
After holding wide consultations with relevant authorities within and outside Nigeria including former IOC President Dr Jacques Rogge, CAS Secretary-General Matthieu Reeb, CAS counsel Jean-Philippe Dubey, and the Executive Director of Sport Resolution UK Edward Procter, among others, a complete review of the current statutes of the CAS and the ICAS enabled the proposal of necessary amendments to suit the peculiar circumstances of the sports environment in Nigeria. Other relevant documents like the Constitution of the NOC as well as the draft NSC Bill were also carefully reviewed.
At the jurisdiction hearing on 13/8/2009 in Doug Smerek (Claimant) and National Karate Association (Respondent), the Sport Dispute Resolution Centre of Canada (SDRCC) defined sports-related disputes in the following terms:
‘Sports-related disputes may include (but are not limited to) those related to: (i) team selection; (ii) a decision by a National Sport Organisation board of directors, a committee thereof or an individual delegated with authority to make a decision on behalf of a NSO or its board of directors, which affects any member of a NSO; (iii) any dispute for which an agreement to conduct a Mediation, Arbitration or Med/Arb or use the services of the Resolution Facilitator has been entered into by the Parties; and (iv) any dispute arising out of the application of the Anti-Doping Program.’
Fortunately, under Nigerian law there is no statutory impediment to the setting up of ADR mechanism for the resolution of sports-related disputes.
ADR is a series of processes that are alternatives tolitigation. It includes prevention, negotiation, mediation, conciliation, and arbitration.
The goals of an ADR system are to reduce time and costs of dispute resolution; maintain or improve the disputants’ relationship; ensure that the outcome of the system is workable, durable and implementable; and develop a process that can be beneficial to all concerned.
The two most common forms of ADR are mediation and arbitration.
There is, however, a limit to the exclusive use of ADR process to resolve sports-related disputes and the intervention of the civil courts may be sought in exceptional circumstances such as lack of jurisdiction, violation of the fundamental right to a fair hearing, or incompatibility with public policy.
The following steps are recommended to immediately establish the equivalent of CAS in Nigeria:
1). Set up an Implementation Committee with the Hon Sports Minister/Chairman, NSC as Chairman (for expeditious action, especially in the provision of funds at this initial stage), and the NOC President as Vice-Chairman. Three other carefully chosen experienced lawyers may also be on the Committee.
2). Inaugurate the Board of Governors (BOG) being the principal organ of the body with the recommended name of ‘Council of Alternative Dispute Resolution for Sports (CADRES)’. The BOG will be responsible for administration, periodic drawing up of list of arbitrators, and sourcing of funds for the body.
(a) At this stage, the BOG can be made up of only 8 members out of whom at least 6 should be lawyers with a minimum of 10 years post-call experience each. Some of them will also constitute the Board of Trustees (BOT). (b) The BOT will facilitate the registration of ‘CADRES’ as Incorporated Trustees under Part C of the Companies and Allied Matters Act (CAMA), to ensure perpetual succession and independence of ‘CADRES’ to resolve sports-related disputes in a fair manner.
(c) The head of the BOG will also be the President of ‘CADRES’.
4). Acquire property in a suitable location in Abuja for ‘CADRES’ and renovate and furnish it to suit the needs of ‘CADRES’ for conference halls, meeting rooms, library, offices, etc.
5). Purchase necessary electronic equipment, vehicles, and other material for the use of CADRES; undertake 2-week orientation course in CAS, Lausanne, in Switzerland for BOG; and sensitize sports federations and associations in Nigeria.
6). Provide take-off grant for operational expenses, allowances and salaries for permanent staff and others, as applicable, to enable CADRES stand on its own feet within 4 years.
CADRES could arguably beone of the most monumental projects in sports development in Nigeria and any sports minister with the consciousness to establish it would stand out among his peers.
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