Belarusian Tennis Federation (BTF) President Sergei Rutenko told that the Court of Arbitration for Sport had postponed the verdict on the appeal against the decision of the International Tennis Federation (ITF) seven times and noted the ITF’s nervous attitude towards this issue.
The ITF Council suspended the BTF’s membership and suspended Belarusian tennis players from participating in team tournaments in March 2022. BTF appealed the decision to the CAS in May of the same year. On Tuesday, the court rejected the appeal.
— When filing an appeal with the CAS, we stated that a disciplinary procedure had been adopted against us, which was executed with violations. This was our main message to the International Arbitration for Sport to overturn this decision. The CAS recognized in its decision that this was a disciplinary procedure. Faced with this situation, the CAS, as the supreme authority in the sporting world, withdrew. They said this decision only applies to the international federation. And they gave them the right to make decisions within the framework of their sport, which is nonsense to me and to our lawyers. We appealed because our rights were violated. But our appeal was rejected. In other words, they recused themselves. That’s the whole problem.
It took two years for the CAS to admit that this was a disciplinary procedure. They postponed the decision seven times. After this decision, we said that we would make the documents in the file public. We can see a certain nervousness on the part of the international federation. After the CAS decision was issued, we were in correspondence with the ITF for two weeks, during which we demanded our immediate reinstatement. To this they respond that we must sign a confidentiality document, since we are violating a certain clause in the charter of the international federation. I tell them: you suspended us, we are not members of your organization, what rules are we violating? We are an independent organization. To this, the ITF responds that our membership has been suspended.
This can be interpreted in different ways, but the enthusiasm of the ITF is clearly visible. When the international conference was held at which the suspension of our federation and the Russian Tennis Federation was ratified, I said that they set a precedent according to which all conflicts that occurred in the history of the civilization would give rise to various parties demanding their suppression. After this meeting, conflict broke out between Israel and Palestine. A number of countries have demanded the dismissal of Israeli athletes, but the IOC issued a statement that Israeli athletes cannot be held responsible for the activities of their leaders. We will make this matter as public as possible. This case will set a precedent. We will fight to be restored, so that people will know the truth. Especially the liberal part of society that claims the West has the fairest courts. Our organization has not violated any article of the charter, but has been subject to sanctions.
After the CAS announces its decision, we will have 30 days to appeal to the Swiss court. We are still studying this possibility and consulting with lawyers,” Rutenko told .
Source : MatchTV
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