CAS Rejects an Irish Boxer’s Appeal for Olympic Spot
The Ad Hoc Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport this afternoon rejected an appeal by the Irish boxer, Mr Joe Ward, against the decision of the Tripartite Commission to award a place at the London 2012 Olympic Games to the Montenegrin boxer, Mr Bosko Draskovic.
The CAS Panel specifically pointed out the fact that, even if the CAS had jurisdiction in relation to this matter, Mr. Ward’s appeal would have failed on its merits. The CAS Panel confirmed AIBA’s position that Mr Ward could not have been considered as the “next best ranked boxer” given his 16th place finish at the AIBA World Boxing Championships Baku 2011.
In addition, while the decision was the undoubtedly the right one, it is lamentable that the lawyer of Mr Ward waited until the last minute to make his application to the CAS which ruled that Mr Ward’s appeal was made outside the relevant time limits and that, therefore, the CAS did not have the requisite jurisdiction.
