Background Article 6(1) of the European Convention on Human Rights (Convention) provides for the right to a fair trial: "1. In the determination of his civil rights and obligations or of any criminal charge against him, everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law. Judgment shall be pronounced publicly but the press and public may be excluded from all or part of the trial in the interests of morals, public order or national security in a democratic society, where the interests of juveniles or the protection of the private life of the parties so require, or to the extent strictly necessary in the opinion of the court in special circumstances where publicity would prejudice the interests of justice...". Facts This decision concerned two independent claims by two athletes, the Romanian football player Darian Mutu (Mutu) and the German speed skater Claudia Pechstein (Pechstein). Mutu In 2003, Mutu was transferred for 26 million from AC Parma to Chelsea. In 2004, Mutu tested positive for cocaine, whereupon his new club, Chelsea, terminated the contract with him. Mutu and Chelsea both submitted the matter to the Football Association Premier League Appeals Committee (FAPLAC), which, in April 2005, confirmed that Mutu had breached the contract. In December 2005, this decision was confirmed by the CAS. Thereafter, Chelsea sued Mutu for damages resulting from the now confirmed breach of contract before the Disputes Division of the International Federation of Association Football (FIFA). In 2008, FIFA's Disputes Division delivered its judgment ordering Mutu to pay over 17 million in damages. Mutu appealed this decision to the CAS but was unsuccessful. Finally, Mutu applied to the Swiss Supreme Court to set aside the CAS decision, arguing that the CAS panel who heard his case was not independent or impartial. Further, Mutu alleged that the law firm of the CAS panel's president, Professor Luigi Fumagalli, represented Chelsea's owner, Roman Abramovich. In addition, Mutu criticised the fact that arbitrator, Dirk-Reiner Martens, heard both his 2005 CAS appeal on the question of liability in principle and his 2008 CAS appeal on the amount of damages. In decision 4A_458/2009 of 10 June 2010, the Swiss Supreme Court dismissed Mutu's application for setting aside, holding that the CAS panel was independent and impartial (see Legal update, Swiss Federal Tribunal rejects arbitrator challenges). Pechstein In 2009, Claudia Pechstein was tested for doping at the world speed skating championships. The blood samples indicated reticulocyte levels above the permitted value, which led to a two-year suspension by the disciplinary board of the International Skating Union (ISU) against Pechstein. Pechtstein appealed that decision to the CAS, which confirmed the two-year ban in November 2009. The hearings before the CAS panel were held in private sessions, despite Pechstein explicitly requesting a public procedure. In December 2009, Pechstein applied to the Swiss Supreme Court seeking to have the CAS decision set aside. Pechstein argued that: The CAS panel was not independent and impartial due to the method of appointment of the panel members. The panel's president had advocated a "hard line" against doping. The CAS' Secretary General modified the arbitral award after the panel had rendered it. She was denied a public hearing. In decision 4A_612/2009 of 10 February 2010, the Swiss Supreme Court dismissed Pechstein's application for setting aside (see Legal update, Swiss Federal Tribunal's reasoning in the "Pechstein" case confirms its strict approach to