[RC] [Endurance Riding: News] Sheikh Hazza bin Sultan al Nahyan (UAE) files an appeal - Steph Teeter
FEI News
29/04/2006 - Sheikh Hazza bin Sultan al Nahyan (UAE) files
an appeal
The FEI has received notice that Sheikh Hazza bin Sultan al
Nahyan (UAE) has filed an appeal with the Swiss Federal Supreme Court to the
Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) which had disqualified him as the winner of
the 2005 World Endurance Championship.
Note to the editor : On 10
March 2006, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) issued its decision in the
matter of the appeal concerning the winner of the 2005 FEI Endurance World
Championship, Sheikh Hazza bin Sultan al Nahyan (UAE). The rider was
disqualified after his horse Hachim tested positive to the prohibited substance
Methylprednisolone.
The FEI Judicial Committee had dismissed the positive
medication case concerning Hachim, due to an irregularity in the usual legal
procedure, whereby Sheikh Hazza was denied the possibility to send a witness to
the laboratory to attend the confirmatory analysis.
In this case, the CAS
panel was faced with determining where the delicate balance should lie between
the strict liability afforded to riders by the FEI’s medication control rules
and the due process rights of athletes. The FEI Judicial Committee panel that
initially considered the matter decided on the basis of the facts and law before
them that under the circumstances, Sheikh Hazza’s procedural rights prevailed.
After considering very substantial briefs as well as new written and oral
testimony from all parties, the CAS panel decided that the balance rather lies
in favour of the rules enacted by the FEI General Assembly to ensure a level
playing field.
The decision of the Judicial Committee is published on the
Legal section of the FEI website www.horsesport.org. The decision concerning the
appeal will be published in due course on the CAS website: www.tas-cas.org.
