Paulo Miyao USADA / IBJJF Anti-Doping Violation Arbitration
Paulo Miyao USADA / IBJJF Anti-Doping Violation Arbitration
Paulo Miyao USADA / IBJJF Anti-Doping Violation Arbitration
(Review Board). On October 7, 2016, he was informed by USADA that the Review
Board had recommended that the adjudication process proceed in accordance with the
USADA Protocol and the WADA Code.
8. On October 17, 2016, Mr. Miyao requested a hearing to contest the sanction sought by
USADA pursuant to R-12 of the American Arbitration Association Supplementary
Procedures for the Arbitration of Olympic Sport Doping Disputes.
9. The Parties and the Arbitrator held a Preliminary Hearing by telephone on January 11,
2017. The Parties agreed that the matter of jurisdiction should be bifurcated and heard
separately from a hearing on the me1its; each Party filed a b1ief on jurisdiction shortly
thereafter. A Hearing on jurisdiction was then held by telephone on February 14, 2017.
At that heaiing, Respondent agreed to provide a Declaration (also sometimes referred to
as an Affidavit) with respect to his language abilities, education, and time spent in the
United States, which Declaration was filed with the Arbitrator on February 24, 2017, a
copy of which is attached hereto as Exhibits A-1 and A-2.
10. The Arbitrator issued Hearing and Scheduling Order #5, in which he stated, --The
Declaration provided by Respondent and the Hearing held on February 14, 2017 were
informative, but not dispositive of the question as to whether he (i.e., Mr. Miyao)
understood and agreed to arbitration in the event of a positive drug test. The Arbitrator
believes therefore that, in order to be fair to both parties, an in-person hearing should take
place at which both jurisdiction and the merits of the case are considered." Mr. Jacobs,
counsel for Respondent, objected by letter dated March 15, 2017, to this approach and
recommended instead "an additional telephone hearing where such questions could be
put to Mr. Miyao. Mr. Miyao would agree to answer questions related to the
jurisdictional issue on a teleconference, such that the jurisdictional issue could be decided
just as the parties had agreed.. ,
11. At a brief conference call on March 22, 2017, the Parties agreed to Mr. Jacob's
suggestion and to a video conference hearing which subsequently took place on March
28, 2017, at which time the Respondent was accompanied by an interpreter, Theodore
Fink, and represented by his counsel, Howard Jacobs. Counsel for USADA, William
Bock III, C. Onye Ikwuakor, and Johncie Wingard, and representatives of IBJJF,
Rebecca Silva and Marcelo Araujo, were also on the video conference hearing. Mr.
Miyao was examined extensively by counsel and by the Arbitrator. Respondent
continues to claim that he is not subject to the Results Management Procedures (i.e.,
arbitration) of the Service Agreement, effective as of January 14, 2016, between USADA
and IBJJF. The only issue before the Arbitrator at this time is whether Respondent is
subject to the jurisdiction of USADA and its Results Management Procedures.
12. While the Arbitrator has considered all the facts, allegations, legal arguments and
evidence submitted by the Parties in the present proceedings, he refers in this Decision
only to the submissions and evidence considered necessary to explain his reasoning.
13. Respondent's brief contains several arguments, beginning with the basic premise that
--uSADA has no jurisdiction to sanction an athlete, or even bring a case against that
athlete, where the athlete has not either agreed to the application of the USADA Protocol
or any anti-doping rules."
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14. The IBJJF is not a signato1y to the WADA Code, nor is it a member of the International
Olympic Committee. The IBJJF rulebook makes no mention of anti-doping rules.
15. The entry/waiver fo1m that was completed by Respondent online for the 2016 World
IBJJF Jiu-Jitsu Championships was referenced and highlighted in his brief as follows:
3.1.3 The English entr y 1waiver provides in pertinent part that "The [WADA] Code is
available online and may be.found at http:/1www.wada-ama.orglen/World-Anti-Doping
Program/Sports-ancl-Anti-Doping-Organizations1 The-Code!"; however that link merely
takes you to another website page - in English-which would require the athlete (if he read
English) to click through the correct sequence of hyper/inks to eventually reach the
World Anti-Doping Code (also in English);
3.1.4 The English entry/waiver provides in pertinent part that "The USADA Protocol is
available online and may be.found at http://wv.,.usasa.org/fi/eslpd(slusada-protocol.pdf:
however, while that hyper/ink does bring you to the USADA Protocol, it is entirely in
English (which Respondent does not read).
16. The Armstrong v. Tygart and USADA case (886 F. Supp. 2nd 572 [W.D. Texas. 2012])
was cited for the notion that "the applicable anti-doping rules and/or the USADA
Protocol are applicable to the athlete through language contained in the athlete's
membership agreement with his or her national governing body or international sports
federation." It is argued, that "the normal course of incorporating the anti-doping rules
into the rules of the sport is simply absent in this case."
17. Ambiguity is allegedly created by the different language in the English entry/waiver and
the Portuguese entry/waiver, with such ambiguity to be construed against the drafter.
The agreement to engage in arbitration in the event of a positive drug test was deemed to
be a contract of adhesion, namely a contract where one party (IBJJF) had stronger
bargaining power than the other (Mr. Miyao).
18. The argument was also made that the 'USADA agreement" -- that is, to follow the
USADA Protocol (including arbitration) -- was contained only in the English version of
the registration website and the entry/waiver.
19. Two California cases were presented to make the point that the differing languages of the
registration documents (English and Portuguese) mattered to the Respondent. Ramos v.
Westlake Services, LLC, 242 Cal. App. 4th 674 (2015), was cited for the doctrine of fraud
in the execution, where an automobile buyer's contract contained an arbitration provision
in the English version, but not in the Spanish version, and Spanish was the buyer's
primaiy language. Penilla v. Westmont Corp. 3 Cal. App. 5th 205, 216 (2016), held that
an arbitration agreement would be invalidated because, 'although Westmonf s managers
knew many respondents were not proficient in English, the managers never explained the
arbitration provision in Spanish or provided a Spanish copy of it.,.
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20. Respondent testified at the video conference hearing on March 28, 2017 that he didn't
read English, that he thought the Portuguese section of the entry/waiver form would be
accurate (that is, just like the English version), and that he didn't ask for an interpreter
when completing the 2016 registration forms for the 2016 World Championship.
Moreover, he claimed that there was no mention of USADA or arbitration when he was
tested at the World Championships both in 2015 and 2016.
21. Lastly, Respondent argues that, given the lack of an enforceable arbitration agreement,
"'any Award on the merits' would be set aside under the Federal Arbitration Act."
22. USADA was contracted by IBJJF to conduct drug testing at the 2016 World
Championship pursuant to a Sample Collection Service Agreement effective as of
January 14, 2016.
23. Respondent's Sample was taken on June 5, 2016 at the 2016 World Championship, was
tested at a WADA accredited laboratory, and reported as adverse for the presence of
Clomiphene, a prohibited substance in the class of Hormone and Metabolic Modulators
on the 2016 WADA Prohibited List - Drug Testing Report USADA 13521 (C2L06) -
Sample #1586691.
24. The Service Agreement sets forth Results Management Procedures at Paragraphs 15 and
16, which include the right of USADA, at its sole determination, to manage the resulting
case in accordance with the USADA Protocol and the WADA Code.
25. The participants in the 2016 World Championship were notified that USADA would
perform drug testing at the Championship through an announcement posted on the 2016
World Championship registration webpage.
26. Respondent has participated in several World Championships and was tested by USADA
previously at the 2015 World Championship, thus he was familiar with drug testing.
27. Respondent signed two waiver documents to register in the 2016 World Championship.
One was entitled Waiver Release Tenns, portions of which were in English and
Portuguese. The other was entitled Additional Waiver Release Terms, entirely in
English. These are separate documents, both in form and substance, though Respondent
frequently appears to refer to them more generically as the 'entry/waiver" documents.
(See Respondent's Arguments and Submissions at Paragraph 15 herein). Respondent
contends that two documents created ambiguity, by their titles and partial use of
Portuguese. USADA argues that no ambiguity exists because the document entitled
Waiver Release Terms covered (1) different information (i.e. liability for injury), and (2)
was accessed separately from the Additional Waiver Release Terms, which dealt
exclusively with doping control. USADA stated that the Additional Waiver Release
Terms, whereby consent was given to doping control procedures, was --accessed
separately", .. displayed as a stand-alone document", and in English.
28. Respondent expressly consented to dmg testing at the 2016 World Championship by
checking a box in the Additional Waiver Release Terms that stated, "'I've read and agreed
to the terms above". This document specifically mentioned that USADA would conduct
Doping Control Services, that the USADA Protocol and the WADA Code would apply,
and that the arbitration under such rules would be the means of addressing any charge.
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46. Respondent testified at several points that he had assistance in completing the 2016
World Championship registration. And he certainly had time between his May 31, 2015
doping test and his appearance in the 2016 World Championship in June, 2016, to
inquire, learn, ask and search about doping control procedures. The Arbitrator finds that
Respondent was an experienced athlete in IBJJF competition and had access to many
resources, but in testimony conveyed a disinterested, or perhaps even a careless attitude,
towards the registration documents he was required to read and acknowledge.
47. Without intending or wishing to show any disrespect whatsoever to other languages,
English is often the language of rules in sports. At the Olympic Games, for example, the
common languages are English and French, with the language of the host country added
as a matter of courtesy and convenience. In the Arbitrator's view, the Respondent knew,
or should have taken the initiative to know, the essential elements of the USADA
Protocol and WADA Code applicable to him as an experienced, successful international
competitor in International Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu.
A. USADA has sustained its burden of proof, thus making the Respondent
subject to the jurisdiction of USADA for the purposes of Results
Management Procedures following his positive drug test result at the 2016
World Championship.
Exhibit A-1
2. I completed high school in a public high school called Colegio Estadual Barbosa
Ferreira in the city of Andira in the state of Parana in Brazil. I attended college for one year. All
of my education was conducted in Portuguese.
3. Until June 2016 my primary residence was in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Between March
2015 and June 2016, I travelled for competitions to Abu Dhabi, Europe, Asia, and the United
States, with trips generally lasting one to two weeks. During this same time period, I split my
preparation and training camps between Sao Paulo and New York City.
5. To this day, I cannot read English, and I continue to have great difficulty
communicating verbally in English. This would be easily confirmed by any of the other students
at Unity Jiu-Jitsu, where I train in New York.
6. In New York, I live at Unity Jiu-Jitsu where I train (as I did in Brazil). I have a
small mattress that I keep in a back room at the jiu-jitsu school, and every night I take it out and
sleep on it. I do not live in an apartment or pay rent. Once a week I go to a church called Our
Lady of Pompey in the West Village for Sunday mass, which is in Brazilian Portuguese with a
Brazilian priest. I go to a CrossFit gym in New York that I can walk to, and someone went with
me the first time I went there to help me register. If I have to go to the doctor in New York,
someone always goes with me to translate between Portuguese and English.
Whenever I post motivational or religious quotes on my Instagram page, I either post them in
Portuguese or I use Google to translate to English and ask someone if the translation is correct.
I declare under penalty of perjury that the foregoing is true and correct, and that this
declaration was executed this_ day of February, 2017, at New York, New York.
PAUL MIYAO