The Olympic Games inevitably produce occasional disputes, such as whether athletes are eligible to take part in an event, disagreements over results and medals, and issues arising from doping tests.

According to the rules of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), all conflicts are handled by the International Sports Arbitration Tribunal. Tao Jingzhou is one of 12 international arbitrators on the 2008 Beijing Olympics Sports Arbitration Tribunal, and heard the first case of the 2008 Olympics.

Tao Jingzhou

The case was brought by the Azerbaijan Olympics Committee. The Azerbaijan Hockey Association and the 13 players of the Azerbaijan Female Hockey Team appealed against a ruling of the International Hockey Association excluding them from the Beijing Games.

Spain beat Azerbaijan in April to qualify for Beijing. But two Spanish players were found to have infringed rules in a post-match dope test. Since regulations state that violations by more than one player will result in their team's disqualification, Azerbaijan applied to take Spain's place at the Olympics.

The International Hockey Association (IHA) found in its investigation that one of the two athletes had indeed broken the rules, but only inadvertently, while the other had not used banned substances. The IHA decided Spain should go to the Olympics. Azerbaijan then appealed to the Beijing Olympics Arbitration Tribunal.

After examining the rules and precedents, the Beijing Tribunal rejected Azerbaijan's appeal. Azerbaijan made two requests for re-arbitration, but both were rejected.

Two other cases of note were heard by the tribunal. In one case the tribunal was called to rule on an athlete's nationality. Swimmer Joan Christel Simms, who holds dual US-Filipina nationality, swam for the USA in an international event last year, but this year she is representing the Philippines in the Olympics. The International Swimming Association refused to recognize her as Filipina as she hadn't lived a full year in the Philippines. In this case, the arbitration tribunal supported the athlete, because the International Swimming Association had on a previous occasion recognized Christel Simms as representing the Philippines in an international match in the UK.

Tao Jingzhou said decisions of International Swimming Association should not contradict each other. So Christel Simms was allowed to represent the Philippines at the Olympics.

Another case concerned German tennis player Rainer Shuettler. Last year, he was ranked 99th in the world, well outside the top 56 players who automatically qualify for the Olympics. But each country is allowed to appoint four players and many players said they wouldn't participate.

After analysis and discussion the arbitrators overturned a decision of the International Tennis Association, and allowed Shuettler participate. Incidentally, Schuettler's ranking has since risen to 36th in the world.

"Justice and independence is the essence of sports arbitration. Each case must be dealt with fairly and reasonably, no matter what the outcome," said Tao. "Arbitration is indispensable to guarantee justice in sport."

"We are a little like Olympic athletes ourselves in the sense that we are racing against the clock to settle disputes against deadlines set by competition schedules."

The International Sports Arbitration Institute selected 12 people as arbitrators for the Beijing Olympics. Two of the twelve are Chinese: Liu Chi, from Beijing Law Firm, Junhe, and Tao Jingzhou, a French Chinese who is a partner in American Law Firm Jones Day.

Tao Jingzhou said arbitrators must have good language skills, and sports experience, as well as impeccable professional ethics and independence.

Tao said one of the most striking features of the arbitration system is its efficiency. Arbitrators normally make a ruling within 24 hours.

Tao suggested China take advantage of the Olympics to build up its sports arbitration system. "Dishonesty and cheating could be effectively eliminated if China had a fair and just sports arbitration system."

Background information:

In 1984, the International Olympic Committee set up the International Sports Arbitration Institute to deal with disputes occurring during the Olympic Games. In 1996, the International Sports Arbitration Institute established an arbitration tribunal to solve all Olympics-event related disputes during the Games.

(China.org.cn by Hou Xiaoying, August 25, 2008)