Topic:Sports law
Subject:Law
Type: Essay
Volume: 7 pages
Format: Harvard
Description
Assessment 1 – Court of Arbitration for Sport Written Submissions
Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority & Athletics Australia v Rebecca Racing
On 5 March 2017, an Athletics Australia employee discovered a transparent, plastic Tupperware container while loading the team vehicle after the IAAF Melbourne World Challenge Meet (‘the Meet’) held at Albert Park. The container had in it:
• Four (4) used syringes;
• Six (6) unused syringes;
• Three (3) used vials of what appeared to be injectable Vitamin B;
• Seven (7) unused vials of what appeared to be injectable Vitamin B;
• Six (6) unused vials purporting to be a vitamin supplement by the name of ‘Vitatest’,
upon which the word ‘testosterone’ appeared on the label in the back of the vial in small print amongst a list of other substances said to be the ingredients/contents of the preparation;
• A blister pack purporteing to be caffeine tablets (200mg), of which 14 of the 20 tablets within the pack remained unused;
• A partially used 250g container with the word ‘Creatine’ on it, in which there was a white powder;
• Four (4) used sterile swabs;
• A packet containing 21 unused sterile swabs; and
• A packet of tissues.
The container was discovered after the Athletics Australia Relays Coach, Pedro Pony, saw it fall out of an Australian Athletics team bag; these bags are identical green and gold team issued bags, which has the name of each team member inscribed on the bag tag, while loading the team Tarago following the conclusion of the Meet.
Pedro noticed that the zip to the side compartment of Kate Kleva’s bag was wide open and that her bag was the closest to the edge of the luggage compartment when he was loading (or better described as ‘throwing’) the bags into the car.
Upon discovering the Tupperware container on the ground next to the boot of the Tarago, Pedro was alarmed by what he saw. He immediately walked around the car to where the women were standing and asked them collectively what did they know about the Tupperware container he was holding. Each of them responded that they knew nothing. Pedro then said, “Kate, I saw it fall out of your team bag. It’s yours isn’t it?” Kate replied, “No way Pedro, it’s not mine.”
Pedro Pony then travelled with the team and the Tupperware container in the Tarago, back to the Team Hotel in St Kilda, at which point he immediately contacted the CEO of
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Athletics Australia, Snark Hellgore. Snark immediately attended the Team Hotel, where he took possession of the Tupperware container from Pedro Pony, who had maintained possession of it since its discovery. Snark immediately took the container back to his Athletics Australia office and stored it securely in the office safe, of which he is the sole key- holder.
There were four athletes in the Tarago that evening and they were all members of the Australian women’s 4 x 100m relay team that had competed earlier that evening in the IAAF Melbourne World Challenge Meet, a competition which is organised and run by Athletics Australia as their flagship meet in the Australian Athletics Tour. The team had finished in 1st place and won substantial prize money. They had also surpassed the qualifying standard to compete in the 2016 Olympic Games. The members of the team were:
• Kate Kleva
• Felicity Fast
• Patricia Power
• Joy Ride
All four women were drug-tested (by urine sample) following the event and the subsequent laboratory analysis conducted by the Australian Sports Drug Testing Laboratory (‘ASDTL’) revealed that none of the women tested positive.
The following day, Snark Hellgore unlocked the safe and immediately forwarded the container and its contents (by Registered Courier) to the Australian Sports Anti-Doping Authority (‘ASADA’). ASADA in turn had the container and its contents tested by the ASDTL. One of the vials, which displayed the word ‘testosterone’, was broken open by the ASDTL and subsequently returned a positive result to testosterone.
Kate Kleva was then charged under the Athletics Australia Anti-Doping Policy (Doping – Possession of a Prohibited Substance; Doping – Attempted use of a Prohibited Substance or a Prohibited Method).
You have been retained to represent Kate Kleva. The case has been remitted directly to the Ordinary Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) for a first instance hearing. Formulate written submissions to defend the charges in an attempt to have them dismissed. Whilst not an exhaustive list, within your submissions some of the considerations you should include are: the relevant facts; a legal analysis of the contract; the jurisdiction of the CAS; the applicable provisions under the Athletics Australia Anti-Doping Policy; and the relevant case law and applicable law to support your position.
