The Court of Arbitration for Sport: 1984-2004

I am very pleased and proud to write the Foreword to this Book on the occasion of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) having completed its first twenty years of operations. And I warmly congratulate the ASSER International Sports Law Centre and the Editors, Ian Blackshaw, Rob Siekmann and Janwillem Soek - in cooperation with Andrew Gibson, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia, and Steve Cornelius, University of Johannesburg, South Africa -, on their joint initiative in putting together and publishing this Book. The CAS has come a long way since the idea of establishing it was first mentioned by Juan Antonio Samaranch, the former IOC President. His vision and confidence in its future have been truly vindicated. Since its creation and up to 31 December 2003, 576 cases have been submitted, of which 550 were requests for arbitration and 26 for an advisory opinion. In 2004, there was a sharp rise in the number of cases handled by the CAS and this trend continues apace. Thus, the CAS goes from strength to strength and has a great future, having, in the words of the Swiss Federal Tribunal in its landmark judgement of 27 May 2003, built up the trust of the sporting world [and] . . . now widely recognised . . . [as] . . . one of the principal mainstays of organised sport.