American lawyer Lenard to head arbitration panel at Olympics

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AP) American lawyer Michael Lenard will head the arbitration panel that will hear any legal disputes at next year's Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport announced Monday that Lenard will lead the 14-person tribunal that will rule on disputes involving doping, eligibility and other issues.

Lenard, a former Olympic handball player, is a vice president of the International Court of Arbitration for Sport. He is also a former senior official of the U.S. Olympic Committee.

CAS, which has operated a special panel at each Olympics since 1996, says the tribunal ''will provide participants in the Rio 2016 Games with free access to justice rendered within a timeframe consistent with the competition schedule.''

The panel consists of seven men and seven women representing 14 different countries.