Jordan Chiles controversy: Sports authority denies bias in bronze medal ruling

Reports have emerged that the chairman of the Court of Arbitration for Sport has represented Romania in numerous arbitration cases over the last near-decade.

As the drama surrounding Jordan Chiles continues to tumble onward, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has denied “outrageous” reports of bias in its decision to strip the American gymnast of her Paris Olympics bronze medal.

During the Aug. 5 Olympic gymnastics competition, Chiles was awarded third place in floor exercise after USA Gymnastics coach Cecile Landi requested a score review, bringing Chiles’ 13.666 rating to a 13.766. The 0.1 difficulty increase pushed Chiles ahead of Romanian gymnast Ana Bărbosu, who was knocked off the podium and into fourth place.

The Romanian Olympic Committee later appealed the scoring change.

On Sunday, six days after Landi requested the on-floor review, CAS said Bărbosu was the rightful winner of the bronze medal — a decision heavily criticized by USA Gymnastics.

Currently, Bărbosu is the third-place winner in women’s floor exercise, followed by Romanian gymnast Sabrina Maneca-Voinea, who also earned a 13.700 score, then Chiles in fifth place. (Bărbosu placed ahead of Maneca-Voinea because of a higher execution score.)

In the days after the decision to bump Chiles’ score down again, reports emerged in several American news outlets claiming the chairman of CAS has represented Romania in numerous arbitration cases over the past few years.

A statement released by CAS on Wednesday condemned the “outrageous statements” to do with chairman Hamid G. Gharavi’s alleged connection to the Romanian government.

“As none of the parties involved in this case has challenged any Panel member during the procedure, it can reasonably be assumed that all parties were satisfied to have their case heard by this Panel,” the statement reads. “Any subsequent criticism is without foundation or merit.”