CAS Secretary General (and Friend of WISLaw) Matthieu Reeb hosted our Evening Talk at the CAS Headquarters in Lausanne on June 21, 2017. Matthieu shared fascinating stories from his long experience as the Secretary General of the Court of Arbitration for Sport and discussed the evolving history of alternative dispute resolution in Olympic sports. We also had the opportunity to discuss the issue of under-representation of women in arbitration, including CAS arbitration.

At the hearing room of the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne In a CAS hearing room filled with female sports lawyers, Matthieu highlighted the fact that the supervising body of CAS (ICAS) is currently equally comprised of men and women (10/10) but there is definitively some room for improvement when it comes to the number of women on the list of CAS Arbitrators – and even more so when it comes to the actual appointment of female arbitrators by the parties. There was a general consensus that increasing the number of female CAS Arbitrators would be a welcome initiative (e.g. also by increasing awareness through the organization of an educational / training workshop for prospective female arbitrators). We sincerely thank Matthieu Reeb for actively supporting this initiative. Affaire à suivre!