A new report has revealed that an official who ruled on the decision to strip gymnast Jordan Chiles of her Olympic bronze medal has ties to Romania.
Hamid G. Gharavi, the head of the Court of Arbitration for Sports' (CAS) three-person panel that ruled in favor of Romanian Ana Barbosu earning the bronze medal over Chiles, has previously represented Romania in arbitration cases, according to documents obtained by the New York Times.
The medal dispute stems from the women's gymnastics floor final, where Chiles initially posted a score of 13.666, falling short of Bărbosu's bronze score of 13.700.
However, Chiles' coaches challenged her difficulty score, which added 0.1 to her total and earned her the bronze medal.
Barbosu's team later lodged a complaint that the U.S. didn't make its inquiry into Chile's score within the one-minute deadline. CAS ruled in favor of Romania on Saturday (August 10), reinstating Chiles' original score of 13.666 and moving Bărbosu’s back to bronze.
The U.S. attempted to appeal the decision to strip Chiles of her bronze medal with video evidence that its inquiry was requested before the one-minute cut-off time. However, CAS declined to reconsider its ruling.
Following the decision, the New York Times released its report on Gharavi, a French lawyer who serves as legal counsel to Romania in disputes at the World Bank’s International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes.
Gharavi's ties to Romania reportedly date back nearly a decade. According to CAS rules, arbitrators are required to disclose any potential conflict of interest before hearings begin.
CAS told The Times that Gharavi had disclosed his ties to Romania and there were no objections from the parties involved.
“In accordance with the guidelines on conflicts of interest issued by the International Bar Association (IBA), CAS has no reason to remove an arbitrator making such disclosure if the parties do not object to his/her appointment,” CAS said in a statement.
U.S. officials said they would explore all options to fight CAS's ruling, including taking the case to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.
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