There seems little chance of a legal challenge if Oracle Team USA are pipped at the post in their America's Cup comeback today.
Speculation about a legal challenge has grown with every win in Oracle's seven-in-a-row spectacular. The thinking is that the international jury penalty docking the team two points over the cheating saga in the America's Cup World Series could come into play if Emirates Team New Zealand were to snatch the Cup at the last.
However, according to legal advice sought yesterday, it is difficult mounting an appeal over an arbitration matter - which is essentially what the jury hearing was under United States law.
Arbitration is intended to be final and is not subject to the same intense scrutiny and points of law that court decisions and judgments are. An arbitration hearing does not have the same legal requirements of the sanctity of evidence, disclosure and other tenets of American law.
Arbiters can be caught out and matters questioned if, for instance, they are found to have a financial interest in the matter they are hearing or have gone so far out of their jurisdiction that they could provoke an appeal. But appeals over an arbitration matter are few and far between. One lawyer said: "Really, it is a big hill to climb to overturn an arbitration decision."
