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LKK wins landmark sports case

LKK partner Antonio Rigozzi and associate Lauren Pagé were part of the team that successfully represented the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) in its challenge to the validity of Rule 45 of the Olympic Charter (the so-called “Osaka Rule”).

 

Rule 45 prohibits athletes who have received a doping sanction of six months or more from taking part in the following edition of the Olympic Games. In April 2011 USOC and the IOC entered into an agreement to submit their dispute on the validity of the rule to arbitration before the CAS. The main questions in dispute were whether Rule 45 was to be characterized as a mere eligibility rule or as a disciplinary sanction and if so whether it violated the World Anti-Doping Code (WADC).

 

In an award dated 4 October, a CAS panel agreed with USOC that Rule 45 amounted to a doping sanction and as such was not in compliance with Article 23.2.2 WADC, which provides that the Code Signatories (in casu, the IOC) may not adopt rules modifying the ineligibility periods established in the Code. As a result, the Panel held that Rule 45 is invalid and unenforceable. This award allows several athletes, including Jessica Hardy, La Shawn Merritt, Oussama Mellouli and Alexander Vinokourov to be eligible for the 2012 Olympics in London.

 

The CAS award can be found here.