519-679-1407

Sport Arbitration


Richard McLaren is a leader in sport arbitration and recognized in Canada and internationally as an expert sport arbitrator, working with several high profile clients since 1994. This includes participation in five Olympic Games through the Ad Hoc Panel of the Arbitration for Sport (Nagano Japan 1998, Sydney Australia, 2000, Athens Greece, 2004, Turin Italy, 2006, Beijing China 2008). McLaren has been retained by professional sport associations including the Canadian Football League (CFL), and the National Hockey League Players' Association (NHLPA), as well as the United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA). McLaren is an arbitrator for the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and the Sport Dispute Resolution Center of Canada (SDRCC). Under the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program Richard acts as a neutral arbitrator and Hearing Officer. Richard McLaren has arbitrated hundreds of sports-related matters around the globe.

IDR Ltd. can service the following:

  • Amateur sports
  • Olympic sports
  • Professional player Associations
  • Professional sports
Richard McLaren has over 30 years of experience in chairing and participating in tribunals and panels for athletes, sport associations, sport organizations and international sport tournaments/games.

Anti-doping Matters
IDR Ltd. can provide arbitration services in anti-doping cases. McLaren has significant experience and expertise in anti-doping cases involving nandrolone, anabolic agents, identical urine samples, r-EPO, equine growth hormones, blood transfusions, and various illicit substances.

McLaren was notably involved in the Report to the Commissioner of Baseball regarding illegal use of steroids and other Performance Enhancing substances in MLB (2007). In 2015 McLaren was a member of WADA’s Independent Commission investigating systemic doping and corruption in Russian Athletics. In 2016 he led the investigation into allegations of sample tampering at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

Notable Arbitration work by IDR Ltd. over the years
Olympic Games
  • Samoa NOC and Sports Federation v. International Weightlifting Corporation
  • Dieter Baumann v. International Olympic Committee
  • Michaela Melinte v. International Athletic Federation
  • Baxter v. International Olympic Committee
  • Muehlegg v. International Olympic Committee
  • Munyasia v. International Olympic Committee
United States Anti-Doping Agency
In 2001, McLaren was selected as one of 29 arbitrators to hear cases for the USADA. McLaren has already participated in more than 15 cases administered by the American Arbitration Association.
Several notable decisions include:
  • USADA v. Justin Gatlin
  • USADA v. Floyd Landis
  • USADA v. Tyler Hamilton
Professional Sports Organizations
  • BAT - President Basketball Arbitral Tribunal, Geneva Switzerland 2010 to 2019
  • ATP - McLaren was Chairman of the Anti-Doping Tribunal for the ATP until 2006. In that role, he resolved several high profile anti-doping cases (presence of nandrolone) including: Petra Korda, Guillermo Canas, Guillermo Coria and Bohdan Ulihrach.
  • NHL - From 1992 to 2000, McLaren was a salary arbitrator for the National Hockey League and the NHL Players' Association. During that time, he issued twenty decisions. McLaren continues to act as a contract arbitrator for the NHL Players' Association in their Player / Agent disputes.

Other notable engagements include:
  • Rugby Canada
  • International Cricket Council
  • World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA)
  • Federation Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) International Court of Appeal (Paris)