Did CAS Become the 'Supreme Court of World Sport' that Samaranch Dreamt of?

Abstract

This paper responds to the recent developments in international sports arbitration. The Swiss Federal Supreme Court annulled three CAS-awards for breach of the arbitration provisions in the Swiss Federal Code of Private International Law in 2007, 2009 and 2010. Against this background, after having existed a quarter of a century, it shall be examined whether the initial visions of establishing an independent international court for sports-related disputes in the early 1980’s could be realised with the CAS. By scrutinising the different aspects, comparisons will be drawn to other legal paradigms such as disciplinary law and administrative law.