Switzerland's highest tribunal upheld a ruling by the Court of Arbitration for Sport after a Saudi soccer club claimed some of the court's arbitrators are not fully independent.
Al Ittihad filed a complaint after it lost a CAS case last August over a failed 2005 transfer bid for a player from Brazilian side Vitoria. Al Ittihad was ordered to pay almost US$3 million (euro2 million).
The Swiss federal court said Tuesday that it won't overturn the ruling by CAS _ the highest body in sports disputes _ and that Ittihad should have protested before the decision if it believed any of the arbitrators were prejudiced against them.
The Saudi club had argued that CAS panelist Jose Juan Pinto was biased because of his membership of the same law firm _ RexSport _ as Vitoria's Brazilian lawyer, Marco Motta. …