The Bermuda Olympic Association (BOA) Executive Board has taken note of the RG article relating to the Court of Arbitration (CAS) ruling involving the BOA and Jillian Terceira. Although the BOA has no intention of retrying this matter in the public domain, we provide the following statement:
Firstly, the process and the original decisions determined by the BOA’s constituted Disciplinary Committee and Appeals Committee were independent of the BOA Executive Board Members. It was these decisions by the BOA’s independent judiciary committees upon which the CAS ruling was based. The sole role of the BOA Executive Board was to refer the matter to both committees for adjudication.
Secondly, the fundamental claim made by Ms. Terceira in her appeal to CAS was that she was not in breach of the BOA Games Participation Agreement. This, in fact, was the basis for the ruling of both the Disciplinary and the Appeals Committees and the fact that she was in breach was upheld by the CAS. Where the CAS ruling and the Disciplinary and Appeals Committees differed was that CAS ruled the sanctions to be imposed against Ms. Terceira were too harsh and ruled that they be replaced with reprimands. Please note again that the original sanctions were imposed entirely by the Disciplinary Committee without input from the BOA Executive Board and subsequently upheld by the Appeal Committee.
The BOA acknowledges that there appeared to be a breakdown in communication whereby its General Assembly comprising the National Sport Governing Boards (NSGB’s) approved new Disciplinary and Appeal Regulations under the revised BOA Constitution but there was a failure to effectively communicate those changes so that all stakeholders, particularly the athletes, were well informed.
The BOA accepts the CAS ruling for upholding the disciplinary breaches committed by Ms. Terceira which were the subject of the BOA's original referral to the Disciplinary Committee. This was the first time that the BOA has felt it necessary to do so in respect of any athlete representing Bermuda. The guidance stipulated in the CAS ruling has provided the impetus for the BOA Executive Board to streamline various policies and procedures should the unfortunate need arise to address such matters if they happen again in the future.
In closing, the BOA looks to move forward and will continue to support Bermuda’s National Sport Governing bodies and our athletes in their journey to represent Bermuda at the highest levels of sport.
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