CAS 2019/A/6181, Fédération Royale Belge de Gymnastique (FRBG) v. Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) and Japan Gymnastics Association (JGA), Award of 24 September 2019 (Operative Part of 25 April 2019)

The Award in CAS 2019/A/6181, Fédération Royale Belge de Gymnastique (FRBG) v. Fédération Internationale de Gymnastique (FIG) and Japan Gymnastics Association (JGA) concerns the bidding process to host the 2023 Men’s and Women’s Artistic Gymnastics World Championships, more specifically the time limit by which potential bidders had to submit their bid. Ultimately, two bids were presented, with one bidder (FRBG) subsequently arguing that the other (JGA) had submitted its bid too late. The matter ended up before CAS, where various questions were disputed. In particular, the question arose whether the FRBG actually had standing to challenge the FIG’s decision to admit the JGA’s bid. For its decision on the substantive dispute, the CAS Panel had to determine what exact deadline applied based on the term “by mid-December” as used by the FIG. The Award provides helpful clarification on these two points, in particular on the question whether a third party has standing to submit an appeal to the CAS in the context of a bidding process. The considerations on the merits (about the interpretation of the term “mid-December”) are rather straightforward, but they will surely help to avoid further disputes of this nature in the future.