Rio 2016 - Double standard being applied in Olympic Appeals?

by Richard Gladwell, Sail-World.com on 5 Jun 2016 Reports from Australia advise that two 49erFX sailors have taken Australian Sailing to the Court of Arbitration for Sport over the decision not to nominate a crew for the 2016 Olympic Qualifying position won in the first round of Qualification at Santander in September 2014.

Social media report that Tess Lloyd and Caitlin Elks have an appeal lodged with the Court of Arbitration of Sport (CAS). The Hearing date has not yet been confirmed, not sure when it is scheduled.

In common with one other National Authority facing Appeals over non-selection Australian Sailing have confirmed their Qualification place with World Sailing in order to meet the June 1, 2016, deadline. (See full World Sailing Qualification chart below - this information comes from the Member national Associations of World Sailing)

This process is contrary to that adopted in the case of the two New Zealand Olympic aspirants in the Womens Windsurfer (RS:X) and Womens Singlehander (Laser Radial).

The Decision handed down in the New Zealand appeals which were held by a Mediator, Sir Bruce Robertson, Chairman of the Sports Disputes Tribunal, a former Judge of the NZ Court of Appeal, said that the Hearing needed to be fast-tracked because of the inability to have an Appeal process that ran past June 1, 2016.

Paragraph 3 of the Decision, says:

3. I had taken steps immediately to have a Tribunal panel available at the first available opportunity to conduct a formal hearing. This was in place for 9.30am on Friday 3 June 2016. Meantime we learnt that the international bodies had confirmed that there could be no extension of the deadline of 1 June 2016 (UK time) within which New Zealand was required to confirm whether it would take up all the 10 slots which it had achieved for the games. This created major problems. Although maintaining our country’s integrity and reliability internationally was important, so was providing the sailors with a meaningful application of the right of appeal to the Sports Tribunal which they were entitled to exercise. The NZOC was sensitive to and sensible about finding a proper and just balance

4. Although there was some slippage in the timetable requirements, necessary material was available when the group convened on 30 May. By then I had taken further preliminary steps in the hope that a Tribunal panel could be available for the evening of 1 June. Due to member availability it would have needed to include me which limited what I could do on the 30th by way of preparation or in mediation.

5. We initially discussed the time factors and their implications. Mr Lloyd for the two appellants suggested that all parties should agree to my conducting a binding arbitral exercise there and then so that a final outcome was immediately available. Although initially unsettled at the suggestion, Yachting New Zealand (YNZ) after consultation amongst themselves embraced the proposition and consensually I proceeded immediately to hear everything the parties directly, and their lawyers, wanted to advance. No restrictions were applied although the lawyers chivied each other from time to time as to some aspects. I was clear that everyone should be able to have a full and unrestrained opportunity to tell their story.

6. The process extended over many hours and at the conclusion I informed the parties that I was in no doubt but that the appeals could not succeed but that I would subsequently review the critical factors I had assessed although not in a lengthy footnoted document. This I now do.

For the full Decision click here

Sail-World understands that the delayed timeframe referred to in 4 above meant that some documents received from Yachting New Zealand were only handed over at the time of the Mediation, and others requested have still not been provided.

It is not clear how Australian Sailing can confirm an Olympic Qualification place with World Sailing to hold it while an Appeal process is running, yet on the other side of the Tasman, the New Zealanders have to accept an accelerated mediation process to meet the same deadline.

Writing in the New Zealand Herald, top sports journalist David Leggat took Yachting New Zealand to task over the Sports Dispute Tribunal Decision:

You hear plenty of feel-good stories about athletes winning Olympic selection, maybe against the odds, maybe because of their tender years, or for one final hurrah at the end of their careers.

Less so, the other end of the scale.

This week, one of the country's major sporting organisations received a fair old slap over its handling of two sailors trying to get to the Rio Games in August.

Yachting New Zealand drew the ire of the Sports Tribunal over its treatment of Laser Radial sailor Sara Winther and board sailor Natalia Kosinska - not so much the overlooking of their Olympic credentials but the way it was done.

The pair went to the tribunal after being rejected for Rio by YNZ, who have announced sailors to contest seven of the 10 classes there.

The other event which won't have a silver fern involved is the men's board sailing, where Jon Paul Tobin gave up early this year after trying and failing to get clear information of what was required to secure his Olympic place.

Unlike the other Olympic classes, Winther, who was 20th at the London Games in the same discipline, and Kosinska were denied funding to receive coaching support.

In 2014, both women - and Tobin - qualified their classes for Rio.

Winther finished 11th at the world championships in Santander, a better finish than 470 men Dan Willcox and Paul Snow-Hansen, who have since improved significantly, having received financial assistance.

Kosinka was also ninth at her individual class worlds.

Buoyed by getting all 10 classes across the line, YNZ sought and received a further $1.2 million funding from High Performance Sport towards further enhancing the programme. But while other crews benefited, not a dollar found its way to Winther or Kosinska. They had to keep their bids afloat out of their own wallet.

Sail-World is not sure that the funding assertions made above are correct, as there are several ways in which New Zealand competitors receive funding. But certainly the non-selected competitors maintain that they had to self-fund much of their campaigns in 2013, 2015 and 2016.

For the remainder of David Leggat's article click here

In Canada and Sweden, a similar process is believed underway to that in Australia, again with Qualification places confirmed with World Sailing, which may/may not be filled by those Associations after any Appeals have run their full course, while the Kiwis appear to have been fast-tracked to meet the June 1, 2016, deadline.