Evolution of CAS human rights jurisprudence: observations from Keramuddin Karim v. FIFA

Abstract

This essay seeks to analyze certain elements in the 2020 Court of Arbitration for Sport award in Keramuddin Karim v. Fédération International de Football Associations (CAS 2019/A/6388, award dated July 14, 2020) where the former President of the Afghan Football Federation was sanctioned for offences including sexual abuse of Afghan footballers. Against the backdrop of increasing visibility of and focus on safeguarding of sporting bodies in the recent past, this essay looks at three aspects: (1) the definition and constitution of the offence; (2) select evidentiary matters of standard of proof, anonymous witness statements and due process; and (3) sanctioning—contextualizing them against a non-criminal, arbitration forum’s human rights jurisprudence as it currently stands. Concluding observations made include a dearth of robust provisions in applicable regulations, but the possibility to read rights into them, and the necessity of nuanced, perhaps unconventional, approaches to evidentiary standards and sanctioning.