Latest news with #CourtofArbitrationforSport
Qatar Tribune
2 days ago
- Politics
- Qatar Tribune
QTTA chief challenges ITTF presidential election result
Tribune News Network Doha Qatar Table Tennis Association President Khalil bin Ahmed Al Mohannadi in a statement released has announced that he has taken legal steps to challenge the legitimacy of the recent fractious International Table Tennis Federation (ITTF) election held last month for the presidency of the Olympic sport's international governing body. Al Mohannadi has filed an appeal before the (International Table Tennis Federation) tribunal and submitted a formal case to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). He described the electoral process of the ITTF to have been rigged by 'serious violations' that undermine the principles of transparency and democracy. The ITTF failed to resolve the conflict following the controversial re-election of Sweden's Petra Sorling as its president, after she received 104 votes against her opponent Khalil Al Mohannadi's 102 which was marred by the number of online votes. Al Mohannadi expressed his deep gratitude to the national federations that supported his candidacy and expressed their clear objection to the irregularities that marred the voting process. He considered this support to represent 'a shared belief that the future of the game must be built on sound legal and institutional foundations.' International legal steps: Resorting to arbitration Al Mohannadi revealed that he had filed a formal appeal with the ITTF Arbitration Tribunal, in addition to filing a lawsuit with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). He emphasized that these steps came after submitting a formal complaint to the Nominations Committee, and within a clear legal framework stipulated by the ITTF Constitution and its electoral regulations. Alleged electoral violations The statement listed the most prominent of what it described as 'fundamental irregularities,' which includescCase:> 1. Accepting electronic votes despite the President of the General Assembly's announcement that voting would be paper-only, which it considered a 'clear violation of official directives.' 2. Registering federations on election day itself, exceeding the approved registration deadline. 3. Counting votes from federations that were not officially registered or had not been verified through the 'official roll call.' 4. Excluding the Nominations Committee, the sole body authorized to oversee the electoral process, which constitutes a violation of oversight and integrity procedures. Call to freeze electronic voting Al Mohannadi has called for a suspension of the use of electronic voting in all international federation elections, noting the need to establish technical and legal mechanisms to ensure accurate verification of each vote. He cited a similar precedent from the 2017 Dusseldorf elections, when proxy voting was annulled due to misuse, emphasizing that the current situation calls for a similar measure to preserve the legitimacy of the elections. Justice first Al Mohannadi has stressed that this is 'not just about an electoral outcome,' but rather a defence of 'the future of our sport and our international institutions.' He emphasized that the legal process will be pursued to the end to ensure justice and protect integrity of the sport. Election background The ITTF General Assembly, held on May 27, 2025, at the Sheraton Hotel in Doha, Qatar, witnessed a tense atmosphere after indications of tampering with the voting process final results raised widespread questions, particularly after irregularities were detected regarding the number of electronic votes compared to the official announcement during the attendance registration process. This was in addition to the registration of federations on election day itself, and the counting of votes not included in the roll call. These circumstances cast a shadow over the integrity of the elections and sparked widespread controversy within the game and among representatives of several national federations. Al Mohannadi's actions are expected to have significant repercussions in the global sports community, especially with the growing calls to review electoral systems of international sports bodies, enhance transparency, and combat what some consider 'political control over sports.'
Irish Examiner
3 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Examiner
John Fallon: Drogheda United not the sole culprits for €525k blunder
ALL judges at some stage of their careers dismiss ignorance as no defence and it clearly applies in the embarrassing episode of Drogheda United. The Roman Maxim is the most straightforward method of swinging a hearing but what's transpired since the Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled on Monday makes the club not alone as culpable. This is exclusive subscriber content. Already a subscriber? Sign in Take us with you this summer. Annual €130€65 Best value Monthly €12€6 / month
RTÉ News
4 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
'The result was taken away from us' - Pride, shock and anger all present for Drogheda boss Kevin Doherty
Pride, shock and anger were the three emotions seeping out of Drogheda United boss Kevin Doherty on a difficult day on and off the pitch for the Louth club. Shock at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruling that ended their European ambitions, pride at how his players responded to that devastating blow hours before kick-off to take the lead against Shamrock Rovers and his anger at the free-kick call that led to the away side levelling things up just before the break before Aaron Greene secured a 2-1 win in the second half. The contentious decision came when Andy Quinn was penalised for an apparent handball spotted by assistant referee Emmett Dynan – Graham Burke driving the set-piece low to the corner – and Doherty admitted that he had to temper his true thoughts on the decision when speaking to the media. "You're playing the best team in the country by a mile, you're coming out and playing like that after the day that we've had, such pride and b*lls and everything that our lads had and for that to happen," he told RTÉ Sport's John Kenny. "I have to be very careful, I don't want to go personal or individual about this, anybody with a pair of eyes that are working could see what happened here tonight." "That result was taken away from us tonight, let the whole country and social media and everyone else look at it because they will be the judge, jury and executioner for these things that happen because nothing else seems to happen in these games," he later added. There was only one topic at Sullivan and Lambe Park pre-match and that was CAS denying the club a spot in Tuesday's UEFA Conference League draw due to their multi-club-ownership rules. Last Friday, Doherty had spoken of his confidence that the decision would go their way, so he was startled when news filtered through that they had lost their case as he made his way to the game. "I wasn't bull****ing, everything I said on Friday still applies today, every single word I said in that interview on Friday still applies today. "There's no doubt it's disappointing...a tough day, yeah." DROGHEDA OUT OF EUROPE AFTER CAS RULING Even with Monday's double blow, Doherty promised that Drogheda's story wouldn't be written in the boardroom and a tightknit group would rebound. "One thing you can certainly say is we're going for Europe again next year. You can see that it's something we want to push on. "It's something you want to do, you want to progress year on year and I think the jump we've made this year without going mad as well, it's evident that we haven't been going mad. We haven't gone out and brought in ten lads. "We've done it the right way, we've done it with the players that it means so much (too). "The calibre of player coming into us, hungry and they want to play, want to win."
Irish Independent
4 days ago
- Sport
- Irish Independent
League of Ireland: St Pat's v Shelbourne; Drogheda v Shamrock Rovers
Live | Today at 14:15 It's a bonus evening of action in the League of Ireland as the four sides that qualified for Europe face off in two Premier Division games. Follow all the action as it unfolds in our liveblog. 4 minutes ago A bit of breaking news this afternoon – Drogheda United's expulsion from European football has been confirmed after their appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport was rejected. Last season's FAI Cup winners will sadly not compete in the qualifying rounds: Drogheda United's expulsion from European football confirmed as Cas reject appeal Drogheda United's expulsion from European football has been confirmed after an appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) was rejected today, with a statement from the club outlining 'heartbreak and disbelief' at the decision. 6 minutes ago Dan McDonnell is in County Louth this evening as Drogs host the Hoops: You're very welcome to Sullivan & Lambe Park, where the build-up to this game has been completely dominated by a disastrous day for Drogheda United and confirmation that this week's European draws will take place without them. It's particularly painful that Shamrock Rovers are in town as it's quite likely the Hoops will skip a round and take their berth into the second stage of the Conference League. Both teams have rotated for this game with Drogheda's recent U-21 call-up Warren Davis dropping to the bench. Stephen Bradley has opted to leave Daniel Cleary, Jack Byrne, Danny Mandroiu, Aaron McEneff and Danny Grant on the bench after they contributed to Friday's 2-1 win over Shelbourne. Dylan Watts, Graham Burke, Darragh Nugent, Trevor Clarke and Cory O'Sullivan come in. Decent options. 12 minutes ago Matchday 19 threw up it's fair share of talking points last Friday as Dan McDonnell and Aidan Fitzmaurice sifted through each of the five Premier Division results: League of Ireland takeaways: Five talking points as Shamrock Rovers seal Derby delight Here are the main talking points following last night's League of Ireland action. 15 minutes ago Good evening and welcome to another live blog covering Matchday 18 of the League of Ireland Premier Division. My name is Ultán Corcoran, and I will be keeping you up to speed with all the action it unfolds around the grounds. We only have two games to bring you this evening as the Irish clubs contending in Europe aim to free up space in their busy schedule. Drogheda United are hosting Shamrock Rovers, while Athletic take on Shelbourne in the Dublin derby. Both games kick-off at 7.45pm and can only be viewed with a LOITV subscription. League of Ireland on Twitter / X Ready for a huge night in the top flight 😍 League of Ireland (@LeagueofIreland) June 16, 2025
RTÉ News
4 days ago
- Sport
- RTÉ News
Drogheda United out of Europe after losing appeal to Court of Arbitration for Sport
FAI Cup winners Drogheda United will not compete in the 2025/26 UEFA Conference League after losing their case at the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne today. United, owned by the Trivela Group, qualified for the competition by winning last year's FAI Cup. However, Danish side Silkeborg, which came under the Trivela umbrella shortly after the Drogs' triumph, also secured a place in the Conference League through their league position two weeks ago. Under UEFA's multi-club-ownership rules, two sides with the same majority owner cannot enter the same European competition. Silkeborg take priority due to their higher league position, under UEFA guidelines, and Drogheda were therefore excluded from tomorrow's first-round draw, the first club to suffer that fate. It is a significant blow to the Boynesiders, with over €500,000 in prize money for reaching the Conference League on offer. No other League of Ireland side can take their place due to UEFA licensing deadlines having passed. Clubs in England have been attempting to get around the ownership rules by placing their ownership in a blind trust. However, a CAS panel found that a change of deadline for blind-trust ownership from 3 June 2025 to 1 March 2025 had been properly communicated by UEFA and that Drogheda knew or ought to have known about this change. A majority of the panel also rejected DUFC's submissions on alleged unequal treatment by UEFA. A statement from Drogheda United said: "It is with great heartbreak and disbelief that we inform you we have lost our appeal to the Court of Arbitration for Sport. We strongly disagree with this decision, and had hoped and believed that the principles of fairness and common sense would prevail. "After months of engagement, constructive dialogue, countless hours of legal preparation, and multiple proposals based on frameworks that have been accepted in the past, we have come up short. Despite genuine and vocal support across the football world, the ruling did not fall in our favour. We are heartbroken by the outcome. "We know that this decision will cause hurt and frustration across our entire community. Not just because of the decision itself, but because we know how much this meant to everyone associated with Drogheda United. We know how hard this team fought to earn a place in European competition. We know how transformational that opportunity would have been, not just financially, but emotionally for our players, our staff, and our community. "We disagree with this decision. We believe it is unjust. Rules should protect opportunity, not prevent it. Especially for community-driven clubs like ours who fight every day to punch above their weight. "Nevertheless, we accept responsibility. And we're sorry. But while we are saddened, we are also emboldened. We will not let this setback define us. Instead, we will use it as fuel. Our club has never been handed anything and we've earned every inch through grit, resilience, and unity. And we will continue to do so. "We will push for reform so that no other community club finds itself in this position again. All parties can do better. And we will do our part to make sure we all do. We will share more in the coming days. "But for now, our focus turns back to what we can control: the ongoing LOI campaign and our FAI Cup title defense (sic), beginning in July against Crumlin. There is work to be done, on the pitch and off it. We are here. And we are not going anywhere. We will continue to invest in all areas of the club, including plans for a new stadium. We want to be regulars in Europe. "This club is on the rise. Our league is on the rise. And no single outcome will change that."
