By Foo Yun Chee
LUXEMBOURG (Reuters) – The International Skating Union (ISU) on Monday asked Europe’s top court to scrap an EU regulatory order that prevents penalising speed skaters for taking part in rival events, saying a ruling upholding the order contained ‘manifest legal errors’.
The case could make it easier for unofficial and breakaway events and competitions to be set up without the approval of the sport’s governing body.
The ISU found itself in the EU antitrust watchdog’s crosshairs after Dutch Olympic speed skaters Mark Tuitert and Niels Kerstholt complained that threats of a lifetime ban stopped them from competing in lucrative Ice Derby events run by a South Korean company.
The European Commission took up the skaters’ case and ruled against the ISU in a 2017 decision, saying the governing body’s sanctions on the skaters were disproportionately punitive and also prevented the emergence of rival events in breach of EU antitrust rules.
The General Court, Europe’s second-highest, threw out the ISU’s challenge in 2020, prompting an appeal to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
“The General Court committed manifest legal errors,” ISU lawyer Jean-Francois Bellis told the 15-judge panel.
He said the ISU’s actions were aimed at preserving the integrity of speed skating and the moral integrity of athletes.
Commission lawyer Freya van Schaik said the ISU has not shown that its rules specifically and genuinely achieve its objectives in a coherent manner.
The organising body’s broad discretion in pre-approving rival events distorts competition, she said.
The case is C-124/21 P International Skating Union v European Commission.
(Reporting by Foo Yun Chee; Editing by Christian Radnedge)
