SALT LAKE CITY (Utah), Dec 22: The Utah State Bar association will provide free legal representation for athletes taking disputes to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) during the 2002 Winter Games.

A pool of between 12 and 15 lawyers will be on standby and made available to athletes needing legal representation throughout the entire Olympics, said a spokesperson for the United States Olympic Committee (USOC) Friday.

A pool of between 12 and 15 lawyers will be on standby and made available to athletes needing legal representation throughout the entire Olympics, which will run from Feb 8 to 24, said a spokesperson for the USOC Friday.

“We want to make sure the needs of the athletes legal representation during the Games are provided for,” said Jeff Benz, general council and managing director of legal affairs for the USOC. “We want the Utah Bar association to pick the lawyers who they want to be involved.

“All we want is good lawyers to make sure athletes involved in disputes have good representation.”

With most of the lawyers chosen to participate in the programme having never been directly exposed to sport law, the USOC will conduct a training session to familiarise them with the Olympics’ dispute process.

The Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport has rented space in a downtown Salt Lake office building in order to quickly deal with any disputes that arise at the Games.

During the 2000 Sydney Olympics CAS heard 14 cases, including one involving Romanian gymnast Andreea Raducan, who was stripped of her all-round gold medal after testing positive for a banned stimulant taken in an over-the-counter cold medication.—Reuters