Eduardo Musa Costa Bravo, Confederação Brasileira de Skate (CBSK) v. World Skate

At a glance

Parties

Eduardo Musa Costa Bravo and Confederação Brasileira de Skate (CBSK) (Brazil) v. World Skate (Switzerland)

Case no.

CAS 2023/A/9230

Forum and rules

Court of Arbitration for Sport, appeals procedure under the CAS Code (2022 edition); hearing in Lausanne

Treaty

World Skate Statutes, Article 2.4; World Skate Bylaws, paragraph 6(b)(6)

Panel

Andrew de Lotbinière McDougall (President), Thomas Clay, Mark Hovell

Sector

Skateboarding / roller sports; disciplinary (ethics)

Outcome

Appeal partially upheld (14 July 2023). Only the offence of insulting World Skate was confirmed. Mr Musa's three-year suspension was replaced by a warning, and CBSK's USD 1,000 fine was upheld.

Amount

Fine on CBSK of USD 1,000 upheld

The dispute

CBSK, the Brazilian skateboarding confederation, and its President, Mr Musa, signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with DC10 and STU on 1 May 2022 to host the 2022 World Skate Park and Street World Championships in Rio de Janeiro. The organising fee was not paid and no hosting contract was signed. World Skate cancelled the events on 2 September 2022. CBSK then issued a public statement criticising World Skate, and STU and DC10 issued harsher statements of their own. On the World Skate Prosecutor's indictment, the World Skate Executive Board issued Resolution No. 5/2022 on 20 December 2022. It found four offences under the Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics (slander; insulting World Skate; breach of contract; violation of ethics duties and values), suspended Mr Musa for three years and fined CBSK USD 1,000. The appellants argued that due process had been breached, that they had committed no offence, and that the sanctions were disproportionate. World Skate defended the procedure and the findings, and relied on its margin of discretion.

Key holdings

1. Any procedural irregularities in the Prosecutor's investigation and before the Executive Board were cured by the Panel's de novo review. The appellants accepted this at the hearing. ¶¶ 153–156
2. By majority, there was no breach of contract. World Skate did not sign the MOU, CBSK had made clear that it assumed no financial obligation, and payment obligations were to arise only once hosting contracts were signed, which never happened. Mr Musa signed the MOU only as CBSK's President. ¶¶ 160–172
3. By majority, there was no slander, because CBSK's statement of 2 September 2022 was not false. The statements made by STU and DC10 cannot be attributed to the appellants. ¶¶ 176–182
4. Both appellants committed the offence of insulting World Skate. CBSK's statement that World Skate had only one event in its calendar aimed to undermine World Skate's credibility, and Mr Musa had reviewed and approved it. By majority, there was no separate violation of ethics duties and values, because no conduct beyond the other charges was identified. ¶¶ 186–194
5. The Panel could review the sanction because the Executive Board gave no explanation of why Mr Musa's sanction was proportionate or much more severe than CBSK's. By majority, a suspension of any length was disproportionate, and the three-year suspension was replaced by a warning under Section 3(A)(I) of the General Part of the Code. ¶¶ 201–208
6. The USD 1,000 fine on CBSK was symbolic and was not broken down by offence, so it was upheld without reduction. ¶¶ 209–213
7. By majority, the Prosecutor, Mr Bonacci, was not allowed to appear at the hearing. He was not a party representative, and World Skate had not named him as a witness in its Answer as Article R55 of the CAS Code requires. ¶¶ 145–149

Procedural history

1. 2 September 2022World Skate cancelled the 2022 World Championships. CBSK published a statement about the cancellation the same day.
2. 21 September 2022The World Skate Prosecutor opened an investigation against the appellants.
3. 3 October 2022Precautionary suspension of Mr Musa. It was lifted by the Indictment Report of 29 November 2022.
4. 20 December 2022The Executive Board issued Resolution No. 5/2022: a three-year suspension for Mr Musa and a USD 1,000 fine for CBSK.
5. 9 January 2023Statement of Appeal filed with the CAS. The request for a stay was dismissed on 30 January 2023.
6. 1 March 2023Panel constituted.
7. 10 May 2023Hearing in Lausanne.
8. 14 July 2023Award: appeal partially upheld.

Tribunal, counsel and experts

Decided by

• Andrew de Lotbinière McDougall President, CAS Panel
• Mark Hovell Co-arbitrator, CAS Panel — appointed by the claimant
• Thomas Clay Co-arbitrator, CAS Panel — appointed by the respondent

For the claimant

Mariana Fortes · Francisco Balbuena Dal Forno

For the respondent

Emanuel Cortada · Basil Kupferschmied

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Keywords

• skateboarding
• World Skate Code of Conduct and Code of Ethics
• disciplinary sanction
• slander
• insulting the federation
• freedom of expression
• memorandum of understanding
• de novo review
• right to be heard
• proportionality of sanction
• suspension reduced to warning
• Article R55 CAS Code
• witness not named in Answer
• 2022 World Championships Rio de Janeiro
• STU
• DC10

Summary generated with AI from the published documents — refer to the award for the authoritative text.