In the dispute between Paralympic athlete Elena Congost and IPC, a hearing will be held on 23 March before the Paris Court of Justice, which will have to rule on the preliminary issue of its jurisdiction: indeed, despite the recent ISU and RFC Seraing rulings by the CJEU, the IPC maintains that the national courts of the EU do not have jurisdiction due to the mandatory arbitration clause imposed by the IPC on Ms Congost (and on all other Paralympic athletes) in the “Participation Agreement” in the Paris 2024 Paralympic Games, which provides for arbitration in the United Kingdom.

Ms Congost (represented by the law firms ‘Dupont-Hissel’ and ‘VIGO’) argues, on the other hand, that such an arbitration clause is abusive and violates her fundamental right of access to state justice, as enshrined in particular in Articles 19 TEU and 47 CFREU.