Court of Arbitration for Sport Dismisses Appeal of Ludger Beerbaum (GER)

On 3 February 2005, Ludger Beerbaum (GER) lodged an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport against the decision taken by the FEI Judicial Committee. The FEI Judicial Committee had disqualified Ludger Beerbaum and his horse Goldfever 3 from the Athens Olympic Games Jumping competitions.

In its analysis, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), agreed that the interests of the sport overall must take precedence over the interests of any individual.

The CAS considered the fact that the evidence indicated that the horse received no unfair advantage as a result of the administration of the prohibited substance and that the treatment was undertaken to preserve the horse’s health. However, the CAS underlined the indisputable consideration that the appellant could and should have sought authorisation for the use of the substance and came to the conclusion that the Judicial Committee had taken the only possible decision in the interest of the sport.

The full decision is published on the CAS website: www.tas-cas.org.

Note to the editor

Olympic Games results
Ludger Beerbaum (GER) and Goldfever 3 placed 16th individually and 1st with the German team. Without Beerbaum score, Germany ends up with 21 points (bronze). Gold goes to USA, and silver to Sweden.

The FEI has officially informed the IOC, which will take care of redistributing the medals in cooperation with the National Olympic Committees concerned.

Points counting for the FEI/Gandini World Riders Rankings will be redistributed according to the new result of the Olympic competitions.

Reference: Decision of the Judicial Committee (see FEI Press News dated 3 Dec. 2004)

Following a hearing held in Zurich (SUI) on 2 December 2004, the FEI Judicial Committee determined that there had been a breach of FEI General Regulations Art. 146.2 at the 2004 Olympic Games in Athens relating to the presence of the prohibited substance Betamethasone in the horse Goldfever 3 ridden by Ludger Beerbaum (GER).

The FEI Judicial Committee accepted that the medication afforded to the horse had been "legitimate treatment" within the meaning of FEI General Regulations Art 174.7.3 in that it had been treatment for the welfare of the horse arising from a skin irritation of the near forefoot. Furthermore the FEI Judicial Committee accepted the statement of the Person Responsible that it had not been his intention to cause a breach of regulations.

Having regard to the strict liability provisions of the FEI General Regulations Art. 146.2 necessary to ensure sporting fairness to all competitors and the provisions of FEI General Regulations Art. 146.3, the FEI Judicial Committee was of the opinion that it had no other option than to disqualify the horse Goldfever 3 from all competitions at the Olympic Games Athens 2004.

The full text of the decision can be found on the FEI website www.fei.org, section Legal.