CAS issues decision in 2005 FEI World Endurance Championship matter

The FEI has received the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in the matter of the appeal concerning the winner of the 2005 FEI Endurance World Championship, Sheikh Hazza bin Sultan al Nahyan (UAE). The outcome of the decision is that Sheikh Hazza is disqualified after his horse Hachim tested positive to the prohibited substance Methylprednisolone.

On 28 April, 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 FEI has consistently maintained a strong stance against doping, but has always been mindful of athletes’ due process rights. This is often a subtle process. “The CAS panel paid close attention to this issue and rendered a useful decision,” said Alexander McLin, the FEI Legal Director. “It reiterated the strong legal foundations supporting sports federations’ rights to autonomous governance and rulemaking, and distinguished athletes’ procedural rights in a private sports environment from those involved in facing criminal prosecution. As a result, while the Judicial Committee’s decision is set aside, there is much that is positive in this decision, including a welcome answer to certain difficult procedural queries, such as the ability for the FEI to qualify or limit the rights of athletes in the testing process.”

FEI President HRH Doña Pilar de Borbón commented: “I believe that the CAS decision is fair for equestrian sport. We are fighting hard for a clean sport, and have made tremendous efforts to put the federation’s anti-doping rules for horses in line with the WADA code. The doping of a horse is perfectly unacceptable as, contrary to a human athlete, the horse is not in a position to accept or refuse the treatment it receives”.

Sven Holmberg (SWE), Chairman of the FEI Task Force on Doping and Medication policy established at the end of 2004 added, “This decision is perfectly in line with the spirit of the Task Force recommendations. Regardless of formalities, the bottom-line of the case is that the horse indisputably tested positive and had to be disqualified to restore sports equity ”.

Note to the editor:
On 30 May 2005, the FEI received notice from the Organising Committee of the 2005 World Endurance Championship, together with Ms Barbara Lissarague (FRA), and the Fédération Française d’Equitation (the French Equestrian Federation), that they were jointly appealing the decision of the FEI Judicial Committee dated 28 April 2005 to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Sheik Hazza Al Nahyan and Hachim won the World Endurance Championship and Barbara Lissarague (FRA) finished second.

The new official results of the FEI World Endurance Championship, held in Dubai on 27 January 2005 are the following:
Individual Classification
Gold: Barbara Lissarague (FRA) /Gorgeat
Silver: HH Sh Mohd bin Rashid Al Maktoum (UAE) / Nashmi
Bronze: HE Sh Hazza bin Zayed Al Nahyan (UAE) / Mindari Aenzac

There is no change to the Team medals.

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.

The FEI medication control programme is run from the headquarters in Lausanne (SUI). The annual number of horses tested is approx. 2500 and the positive rate is between 2 and 3%. The vast majority of positives relates to treatment of orthopaedic problems and tranquilisation/sedation.