NORDIA Law Defends Athletes in CAS Dispute Over Swedish Olympic Selection Criteria
In a highly publicized case, the Swedish Olympic Committee (SOC) rejected invitations on July 3 for six athletes who had qualified for the 2024 Olympic Games under the International Olympic Committee (IOC) qualification rules. The SOC implements its own selection criteria, requiring athletes to be assessed as capable of achieving a top-12 placement at the Olympics to be eligible for selection. Consequently, these six potential Olympians were not selected.
According to the athletes, this practice contravenes the Olympic Charter, which mandates that national Olympic committees must adhere to the qualification processes established by the IOC and the relevant international sports federations.
To ensure a fair hearing and protect future athletes from similar issues, the six athletes, represented by Karl Ole Möller and David Mikhail from NORDIA Law, filed a case with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).
Although the prayers for relief were dismissed by CAS, the tribunal is known for providing comprehensive, well-reasoned, and structured merits in its decisions. Thus, it will be particularly interesting to review CAS’s legal assessment of the SOC’s criteria and selections for the Olympics, and whether these align with the Olympic Charter.
NORDIA’s legal team was led by Karl Ole Möller (Partner) and David Mikhail (Associate).
