When British based Alex Peternell was told on the 23rd May that he had not been selected to be the one rider sent from South Africa to the London Olympics he put in an appeal to the Court of Arbitration. At that time Johannesburg based Peter Hart had been chosen by the South African Equestrian Federation (SAEF).
Alex felt that as he was ranked 164 on the world rankings well above the 442 placed Peter Hart that he should be the one heading to the Games.
Following that appeal it was stated on the Court of Arbitration for Sport website that:
“The CAS Panel found that Alexander Peternell fulfilled the three different sets of selection criteria applicable and accordingly, that he should have been nominated by SAEF for selection. The CAS Panel has set aside the SAEF decision of 25 June 2012 and the SASCOC decision of 2 July 2012 and stated that Alexander Peternell shall be eligible for selection by SASCOC to compete on behalf of the South African team in the eventing discipline in lieu of Paul Hart.”
Following the decision from CAS the South African Olympic Committee made a statement:
South Africa’s Olympic governing body SASCOC await the SA Equestrian Federation’s final decision on the selection issues over the allocated eventing spot at the 2012 Olympic Games in London.
Two eventers – Alex Peternell and Paul Hart – met the qualifying standards. But the Federation submitted Hart’s name as the nominated competitor.
Peternell then took the matter to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) who ruled that he was the better qualified individual with eligibility for selection.
SASCOC then referred the matter back to the Federation to review their nomination as per CAS decision of Saturday, 21 July 2012.
“The Federation maintain that in their opinion Paul Hart is the correct choice and therefore have not seen their way clear to submit a nomination for Alex Peternell,” said SASCOC Chief Exeutive Officer Tubby Reddy. ‘Given this scenario and in keeping with Article 6.3.3 from SASCOC’s Articles of Association, the SASCOC Board has decided that we will not utilise the one slot available to the eventing discipline at the Olympic Games. The Board therefore maintains that the sport of Equestrian will not have any representation at the Olympic Games. The Board is fully aware that A Peternell may go back to CAS for an urgent hearing and we are prepared to defend our case, while noting that CAS’s ruling on the new appeal may have to be adhered to by ourselves.”
And go back CAS he did with the outcome being that CAS ruled in favour once again of Alex Peternell and ordered the SAEF to nominate him to the team.
"I'm packed and ready to go," Peternell, a married father-of-one, told the Times (the South African daily Newspaper) from his home near Bath yesterday afternoon. "I can be there in two-and-a-half hours."
Like every story there are always two sides and we will never really know everything that went on behind the scenes but I cant help feeling that while this is all good news for Alex Peternell I can’t imagine how Paul Hart feels …
