Tuiketei gets top sport appointment

Suva lawyer Ana Tuiketei has yet again achieved another milestone after being appointed as an arbitrator on the General List of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

In May last year, she became the first Fijian to be listed in the International Criminal Court (ICC) registry of counsels.

The institution has 400 arbitrators selected from 87 countries in the world, of these there are only 22 in the Oceania region.

Of the 22 arbitrators in the region, 15 are from Australia, six from New Zealand and now two from Fiji.

Former judge Jiten Singh is the only other Fiji listed with the CAS.

Tuiketei becomes the first Pacific woman and only the fifth woman in the team of arbitrators from Oceania.

“I feel this is being very significant for me as a professional and as having more representation on an international body which deals with sporting disputes,” she said.

“I feel that as a Pacific islander I can bring in the local knowledge of the sport and this is very important.”

Tuiketei is not a stranger to sports. She is the first female judicial officer for World Rugby and serves on the board of the Fiji Sports Commission.

She feels that her inclusion in General List is an opportunity for Fijians and Pacific Islanders especially women.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport is an institution independent of any sports organization which provides services in order to facilitate the settlement of sports-related disputes through arbitration or mediation by means of procedural rules adapted to the specific needs of the sports world.

The CAS was created in 1984 and is placed under the administrative and financial authority of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS).