The “Super 20”-group – could CAS actually be blamed for the lack of diversity among its arbitrators?

CAS has a closed list of arbitrators consisting of 400 legal professionals from 85 nations. But the reality is that 20 male lawyers were involved in almost 60 per cent of all cases. All these lawyers are from Europe, US and Israel.

Experts agree that you cannot force parties to pick a female arbitrator. But actually CAS themselves can do something to change this picture of massive gender inequality.

Why it matters: People need to feel that the arbitrators that decide CAS-cases, mirror to some extent those who are affected by the judgments.

The perspective: In fact, you could argue that CAS has done well to appoint as many female and non-European arbitrators as it has, considering their limited influence over who can be considered for the list.