Markowitz Herbold attorney, April Stone, weighs in on the stripping of USA gymnast Jordan Chiles' bronze medal and potential conflicts of interest.
Trial lawyer representing individuals, athletes, businesses, and state and local governments across all industries in complex litigation in state and federal courts in the Pacific Northwest and beyond
Was a conflict of interest at the heart of the Court of Arbitration for Sport's ruling in favor of Romanian gymnasts that stripped Team USA's Jordan Chiles of the bronze medal in floor exercise? The International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR) says yes. According to CPR, the principal CAS arbitrator, Hamid Gharavi, is currently representing Romania in international disputes at the World Bank’s International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes and that he has represented Romania for nearly a decade. The International Bar Association's IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration (the “2024 IBA Guidelines”), widely used in international arbitrations of all kinds, include a list of non-waivable conflicts requiring an arbitrator's automatic disqualification to hear an international arbitration called the "Non-Waivable Red List," which provides: 1.1 There is an identity between a party and the arbitrator, or the arbitrator is a legal representative in the arbitration, or employee of a person or entity that is a party in the arbitration. 1.2 The arbitrator is a manager, director, or member of the supervisory board, or has a controlling influence on one of the parties or an entity that has a direct economic interest in the award to be rendered in the arbitration. 1.3 The arbitrator has a significant financial or personal interest in one of the parties, or the outcome of the case. 1.4 The arbitrator currently or regularly advises a party, or an affiliate of a party, and the arbitrator or the arbitrator’s firm or employer derives significant financial income therefrom. [footnote omitted] Did Gharavi have a Non-Waivable Red List conflict? Can an Olympic arbitrator who currently represents a country on the global stage decide a case involving a gymnast of that country in an impartial manner? Lawyer friends, what do you think?