IHA opts for appeal to the court of arbitration

The Irish Hockey Association (IHA) finally bit the bullet yesterday by announcing, on the recommendation of its legal advisers, Giles Kennedy, Paul Sreenan and Robert Barron, that it will attempt to reclaim Ireland's place in next November's World Cup finals at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The IHA lodged its appeal to the CAS against the ruling of the disciplinary commission of the International Hockey Federation (FIH), which effectively stripped Ireland of its World Cup qualification last month, and now awaits the FIH's response to its challenge.

To date the CAS, whose decisions are "definitive and unappealable", has heard only one Irish appeal, that of swimmer Michelle de Bruin, but the IHA will become the first Irish sports body to use what is now the only recourse available to them.

Interestingly, when Joan McCloy, the IHA president, made a "courtesy call" to FIH president Els van Breda Vriesman yesterday, "in advance of the appeal going to CAS", van Breda Vriesman, a lawyer by trade, was far from shocked at Ireland's decision. "She said she wasn't surprised, that she certainly understood exactly why we were going to CAS, understood the case that we would be taking and understood the reasons for us doing it," said McCloy.

Van Breda Vriesman's response would appear to add substance to the widely held view that a section of the FIH "powers that be" were less than pleased with the ruling of its disciplinary commission.

"It will be utterly indefensible in a court of law," said one senior figure from a "neutral" national association earlier this week.

McCloy, though, is more cautious about the prospects of an Irish victory in Lausanne. "The unknown about CAS is, do they look at a case purely from the point of view of rules and the regulations, or will they also look at it, as the disciplinary committee did, from a 'sporting' point of view?

"And also, does anyone really want to rule against an international sporting federation?

"So, whether it will be about politics or 'three good men and true', we will have to wait and see.

"But," said McCloy, "we have always felt that our case was just, so when the FIH made their decision we felt there was no doubt that we would appeal - we were really left with no option. Of course it was a difficult decision because, at the end of the day nobody wants to take their international federation to court, and certainly not Ireland, but we had no choice.

"We have taken the opportunity, on a number of occasions, with officers of the FIH, to make the point that Ireland wouldn't normally be seen to be "out of line" and taking a legal route, but what else could we do? I believe the FIH understand that and see the reasons behind our action."

McCloy expects the CAS to take "at least three months" before it rules on Ireland's appeal, in which time the disciplinary commission's decision will be suspended.

The FIH, though, would have had to go back to the drawing board anyway in their quest for a solution, as they have just been informed by the South African Hockey Association that they are "unable to accommodate the extra two teams in the Champions Challenge in February".

That means Ireland and Lithuania couldn't have attempted to qualify for the World Cup in Johannesburg, as the FIH planned.

A shambles? A polite word for it.