Serge Vittoz and Daniel McDonagh write for City AM on selection for the Paralympics and Olympics and potential disputes
More than 4,000 athletes from 150 nations are set to compete in 22 different sports when the 2024 Paralympic Games in Paris begin this week. The names selected have been confirmed over the last few months.
Selection can cause controversy, as it did at the Olympics where the Netherlands’ beach volleyball squad made international headlines – perhaps for the first time – following a contentious decision to pick Steven Van De Velde for the Olympic team, despite an extremely serious previous sexual offence conviction.
The approaching Paralympic Games, in conjunction with the Van De Velde story, raises the question: how does an athlete qualify, and who gets to decide who competes?
In a joint article for City AM, Serge Vittoz, Counsel in our Geneva office, and Daniel McDonagh, Associate in our London office, explore the selection criteria for the Paralympics and Olympics, potential legal challenges that may arise and explain what's to come.
Read the full article in City AM here.
