By JULIE ASH
Although its credibility may have been dented, the New Zealand Sports Disputes Tribunal will be much wiser following the release of the Court of Arbitration for Sport's reasoning for its decision to uphold Yachting New Zealand's appeal, says Sport and Recreation chief executive Nick Hill.
The arbitration court, the
world's highest sports disputes body, overturned the tribunal's decision last month allowing the original Olympic nominations of Yachting New Zealand (YNZ) in the Laser and 470 men's class to stand.
In the report, the arbitration court's panel of former Chief Justice Sir Thomas Eichelbaum, David Williams, QC and Australian Alan Sullivan, QC, found no fault with the YNZ selection panel.
In its view "the approach adopted by the panel was an appropriate one and conformed with the criteria".
The tribunal's criticism of the selectors was, in the opinion of the arbitration court, "fatally flawed".
The arbitration court noted "the tribunal has trespassed into the forbidden field of reviewing the decisions of the panel on the merits as opposed to determining whether the nomination panel as a matter of law breached the criteria".
The arbitration court went on to note "the tribunal's reasoning seems to substitute its own views of the merits of the assessment of those results for that of the panel".
The tribunal was formed last year. It is a Sparc initiative and has eight members headed by Ted Thomas, QC.
Hill said it was clear that the arbitration court panel's decision did affect the tribunal's credibility. "But having said that it is the first significant case that it has had to deal with, which was a very tough one in terms of the straight legal issues that were involved.
"It takes time for an institution like this to settle in," he said.
"I am confident, given the calibre of people involved, that all the parties will learn from this ... everyone will be a lot wiser the next time something like this arises."
YNZ chief executive Simon Wickham said the arbitration court findings justified the YNZ decision to appeal against the tribunal's findings to ensure the right of the selectors to exercise their expert judgement in determining Olympic selections.
"We believed at the time - and still believe - that the conclusions reached by the tribunal were unacceptable and untenable.
"It is deeply regrettable that we had to go to such lengths to have our beliefs confirmed and it is unfortunate that, as part of the learning process in regard to selection decisions, Yachting New Zealand have had to foot the bill to create some important precedence," Wickham said.
Yachting New Zealand estimates the hearings could cost about $100,000 - something Hill said needs to be addressed.
"Cost is a big concern from our point of view," he said.
Sailing saga
* Hamish Pepper wins the Laser class Olympic trials ahead of Andrew Murdoch. Jamie Hunt and Andrew Brown win the 470 class, Simon Cooke and Alistair Gair finish third.
* Murdoch, Cooke and Gair appeal to the New Zealand Sports Disputes Tribunal arguing that the results of Pepper, and Brown and Hunt last year had not fulfilled one of YNZ's criteria that crews had to show they could finish in the top 10 in Athens. The tribunal upholds those appeals.
* YNZ appeals to the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
* The court sets aside the tribunal's decision and restores the nominations.
By JULIE ASH
Although its credibility may have been dented, the New Zealand Sports Disputes Tribunal will be much wiser following the release of the Court of Arbitration for Sport's reasoning for its decision to uphold Yachting New Zealand's appeal, says Sport and Recreation chief executive Nick Hill.
The arbitration court, the
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