Antonio De Quesada, Head of Arbitration Services at the Court of Arbitration for Sport, with participants, during the seminar in Doha.
Doha: The Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre (QICDRC) hosted a seminar with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to discuss the CAS’s role in the resolution of disciplinary and commercial disputes directly or indirectly linked to sport, with an emphasis on disputes that arise during events such as the FIFA World Cup and the Olympic Games.
Antonio De Quesada, Head of Arbitration Services at CAS, and Dr. Zachary Calo, Professor of Law at Hamad bin Khalifa University and Senior Counsel at McNair International, were the distinguished guest speakers at the seminar.
Commenting on the occasion, Faisal Rashid Al Sahouti, CEO of Qatar International Court stated: “This seminar is an opportunity for us to collaborate with a highly respected independent body in the arena of sporting disputes, the Court of Arbitration for Sport, in order to discuss dispute mechanisms and sports arbitration, especially within the context of the upcoming FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022”.
De Quesada said: “The CAS ad hoc divisions have become a key element for the good organisation of different international competitions. For instance, the CAS Ad Hoc Divisions are present in the Olympic Games since 1996 and in the FIFA World Cup since 2006. The CAS Ad Hoc Divisions provide legal certainty and a very fast resolution system to the relevant stakeholders to solve disputes that may arise during the competitions, as such disputes are per se very urgent”.
Calo added: “As Qatar prepares to host the FIFA World Cup, this event provided an opportunity to explore the critical role of the CAS in addressing disputes that arise during mega-sporting events”.
The seminar was held as part of the Qatar International Court’s commitment in engaging with local and international legal professionals and experts in its continuous efforts to promote access to justice, and encouraging a better understanding of arbitration and dispute resolution within the community.
The QICDRC, also known as the Civil and Commercial Court of the Qatar Financial Centre (QFC), is part of the strategy of QFC to attract international business and financial services to Qatar. The CAS was established in 1984 and its head office is in Lausanne, Switzerland. It is an institution independent of any sports organisation which provides for services in order to facilitate the settlement of sports-related disputes through arbitration or mediation.
