"The ambition of the CAS is to have fewer cases, that is, that the court's activity contributes to reducing the level of sports conflict, not increasing it. [...] The CAS is not here to feed on cases. We are a passive party. [...] Cases come to the CAS because someone feels their rights have been violated. And it is very important to emphasize that. There is no market for cases here that is disputed by the CAS in competition with others, such as the courts," he began by clarifying.

José Mário Ferreira de Almeida believes that the CAS has "too many cases", in the sense that it has not been "entirely" successful in the objective of "increasing the rates of sports peace".

"Every year the number of cases filed with the CAS increases," he said, noting that some relate to issues that "are not relevant in the domain of what is important".

The data provided by the CAS to Lusa shows an exponential increase in cases since 2015: if in the first year, only six cases were considered, since 2022 they have exceeded three digits, with 120 in 2022 and 125 last year - the number was not higher due to the Amnesty Law, created within the scope of the World Youth Day and the visit of Pope Francis to Portugal.

Thus, the 2023 exercise was marked by a 4.2% growth in the number of arbitration cases filed compared to the previous year, 'triggering' the percentage when compared to 2021 (up 40.4%) and 2020 (52.4%).

The increase in cases is mainly linked to football, responsible for 80% of the cases analyzed by this body.

"Football is an example of a sport where, in fact, conflict is permanent and, therefore, if we look at the nature of some of the litigious cases that, in the first instance, are assessed in the arbitral jurisdiction of the CAS, we find cases about fines of 1,000 euros, 1,500 euros, 1,700 euros, things of that kind, or suspensions of sports managers who, whether they are on the bench or not, perhaps do not change anything that is at stake, which is the dispute or the competition," he explained.

José Mário Ferreira de Almeida still believes that this preponderance of football should be seen "naturally".

"I would be surprised if it were not so, given the social, economic, and sporting importance of football. I would find it strange if the expression of this importance were also not felt at the level of the processes, especially in a competition, which we all know, is very conducive to conflict," he added.

However, the president of the CAS argues "that something has to be done, at the level of the internal justice of the federations and associations, in order to reduce the level of existing conflict".

"May it be upstream, in a regulation that gives less rise to these conflicts, whether at the level of the functioning of the internal justice bodies of the federations, it is certain that it is not the president of the CAS who will ever criticize the functioning, the activity, or the results of these bodies, which are generally made up of very competent and specialized people," he stressed.

For Ferreira de Almeida, "there are too many disputes", which "could be perfectly resolved at the level of the internal justice of sports entities".

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