ARTICLE
September 29, 2017
KLRCA Certificate Programme in Sports Arbitration
The Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration has identified the need for resolution of disputes in the sports industry in Malaysia. Arbitration has been known to be an effective medium to resolve disputes amicably and that conviction remains a principal catalyst that led to the inception of the Malaysian Sports tribunal (MST). With the upcoming establishment of MST, the sports ministry and associations alike will be able to pass on the intricacies of dealing with sporting disputes to the newly formed body and in turn focus on the development and capacity refinement of their respective portfolio.
To this end, a specialised set of MST arbitration rules is currently being finalised, along with a specialist panel of Sports arbitrators drawing on both arbitration and sports communities, and the drafting of a flexible cost structure. Accordingly, there will exist a need for sports stakeholders to familiarize themselves with the technical aspects of MST’s framework, which to an extent mirrors the CAS system.
In Malaysia, sporting dispute resolution remains at its infancy, where knowledge and experience in the theoretical and practical aspects of sports dispute resolution at national and international levels amongst sports stakeholders throughout Malaysia has been scarce at best.
It was in light of this that the KLRCA organised the first edition of the KLRCA Certificate Programme in Sports Arbitration back in 2016. The inaugural edition proved to be a success with 50 candidates from across the globe successfully completing the course and going on to play significant roles in the resolution of sporting disputes in their respective countries.
Several candidates from 2016’s batch were recently called up to be a part of the disputes panel, with the Olympic Council of Malaysia (OCM) having introduced the KLRCA as an independent body to resolve disputes at the recent South East Asia (SEA) Games held in Kuala Lumpur.
Renowned sports arbitrators, Professor Richard McLaren OC and Paul Hayes returned as course directors for 2017’s edition of this programme which saw close to 30 candidates from across the globe participating to gain more insight to this budding field of law.