CAS OG 16/20 VANASOC & Vanuatu Beach Volleyball Federation vs FIVB & Rio 2016 Organizing Committee
On 19 July 2016 the Italian athlete Viktoria Orsi tested positive for the prohibited substance clostebol and was finally excluded on 2 August 2016 from the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
On 4 August 2016 the International Volleyball Federation (FIVB) informed the President of the Vanuatu Volleyball about the allowed replacement of the Italian athlete Viktoria Orsi Toth by the athlete Laura Giombini.
On 5 August 2016 the Vanuatu Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee (VANASOC) and the Vanuatu Beach Volleyball Association filed their application with the CAS Ad Hoc Division Panel against the FIVB and the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee.
The Applicants requested the CAS Panel to set aside the 4 August 2016 decision of the FIVB and the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee which accepted the replacement of the Italian athlete Viktoria Orsi Toth by the Italian athlete Laura Giombini.
The Applicants requested the Panel to exclude the Italian female beach volleyball team and to allow the Vanuatu team to compete in the Women Beach Volleyball at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
The Sole Arbitrator Panel finds that the FIVB decision is scant to allow the Italian team to replace the Italian athlete Toth. The Panel notes that the Late Player Replacement Policy provides for a discretion on the part of the Rio 2016 Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games (Rio 2016) to authorise a replacement on a case-by-case basis for exceptional circumstances. The FIVB letter states that the replacement was authorised under this Policy. It cannot be said, for example, that the FIVB ignored the Policy, nor has it been suggested that it was unaware of its contents. Also the Respondents failed to file a statement in their defence.
The Arbitrator rules that the Applicants did not establish that the Late Player Replacement Policy was not complied with. This would involve establishing that the discretion miscarried or that there were no exceptional circumstances.
The Panel cannot conclude that the Applicant has satisfied this onus of proof. The facts are not sufficient to establish an inevitable conclusion of lack of exceptional circumstances. For example, the Panel notes the chronology as set forth in the Application and observes that it has not been shown that surrounding circumstances did not constitute or amount to exceptional circumstances. It follows that the Application should be refused.
Therefore the Ad Hoe Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport rules on 5 August 2016 that the application filed by the Vanuatu Association of Sports and National Olympic Committee (VANASOC) and the Vanuatu Beach Volleyball Association is dismissed.
