THE Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) today dismissed the appeal of Horse Sport Ireland and Cian O'Connor in a bid to get an Irish show jumping team to the Rio Olympics.
The Lausanne body issued the decision this morning via their website but the grounds for the decision will not be released for the next few weeks.
Horse Sport Ireland said today they were "very disappointed'' by the CAS decision but declined to comment further while Cian O'Connor posted on social media that he had "no regrets'' and it was "time to move on".
Meanwhile the FEI issued a statement welcoming the CAS decision.
“I am happy that the CAS has confirmed the decision of the FEI Appeal Committee”, FEI Secretary General Sabrina Ibáñez said after receiving today’s ruling. “This was a field of play issue that was covered by FEI rules, so the CAS ruling upholding the decision made at the time is an important one for the FEI.”
This morning's CAS statement said: "The appeal filed on 11 September 2015 by Horse Sport Ireland and Cian O’Connor against the decision rendered by the FEI Appeal Committee on 22 August 2015 is dismissed and the FEI decision is confirmed.
"The arbitration concerned a protest lodged by Horse Sport Ireland and Cian O’Connor following an incident during the team final at the FEI European Jumping Championships held in Aachen, Germany, in August 2015, which counted as final qualifying event for the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. The incident involved a member of the ground staff during O’Connor’s round.
"The FEI Appeal Committee’s decision of 22 August 2015 confirmed an earlier decision taken by the Ground Jury at the Aachen championships in which the protest lodged by the Irish team was dismissed and a ruling was given that the results obtained on the course that day would stand," said the CAS statement.
The CAS arbitration was conducted by a panel of CAS arbitrators including Jeffrey G. Benz, USA (President), Philippe Sands QC, UK, and Nicholas Stewart QC, UK, who held a hearing at the CAS headquarters on 16 December 2015.
The CAS Panel has issued only its decision today, without the grounds, which will follow in the coming weeks.
Horse Sport Ireland CEO Damian McDonald said that Horse Sport Ireland are very disappointed with the outcome. "We felt that we had made a strong case and we are very disappointed with the outcome. We will await the full reasoned judgement before making any further comment on the outcome," he added.
Cian O'Connor posted on social media: "Disappointing News - Court Of Arbitration for Sport have upheld the decision of the FEI appeal committee from Aachen which means Team Ireland do not get a place for the Rio Olympics. I have no regrets. I tried everything possible and left no stone unturned in trying to seek fairness for what I feel was an unsporting decision made by the ground jury in Aachen. It’s time to move on and refocus on the sport rather than getting caught up further in bureaucracy and even more angry with officialdom.
"Team Ireland are first reserve because of the good performance at WEG in 2014 so there is always a chance that we will get there yet- so best to keep aiming for it I guess! Another interesting chapter for my book when I get round to it and I look forward to telling the no- holds- barred version!"
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