Dr Laura Donnellan, School of Law for RTÉ Brainstorm: What happens at the Court of Arbitration for Sport?

The School of Law at the University of Limerick hosted an historic event on Saturday, 15 November 2025 as the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) held an arbitrator training seminar. While the event itself was unprecedented, its significance lies in what it reveals about how CAS operates and the importance of training for arbitrators who are faced with a wide range of complex cases, including commercial, doping, governance, and disciplinary matters.

The CAS is an independent arbitral body that resolves sports related disputes through arbitration (where an independent third party empowered to impose a binding decision on two or more parties) and mediation (a non-binding decision imposed on the parties by a mediator who facilitates and coordinates the discussion between two or more parties). It hears any dispute ‘directly or indirectly’ related to sport, however, the parties must recognise its jurisdiction in its statutes/regulations or by way of agreement. The CAS represents a specialised model of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) within international sport.

 In UL’s latest for RTÉ Brainstorm, Dr Laura Donnellan, School of Law, explains what the Court of Arbitration for Sport is, its remit, and why it is so important.