In a stunning twist to the dispute around the sale of Adidas by Bernard Tapie in 1993, a Paris appeals court has scrapped the decision of an arbitration committee that awarded compensation of about €403 million to the French businessman in 2008 – deeming the procedure fraudulent. This came after questions were raised about the independence of the arbitration committee – leading to a separate criminal case in which Tapie, one of his lawyers and four other personalities are under investigation. Even though Tapie's lawyers are appealing the annulment of the arbitration in the highest court, dates have already been set for the Adidas case to be tried again at the appeals court in September. This court awarded damages of €135 million to Tapie in 2005, but its ruling was rejected by the highest court and two years later the businessman and the French government agreed to settle the case through arbitration. The government is involved because the case is between Tapie and the Crédit Lyonnais, the former State-owned bank that organized the Adidas sale. It remains unclear if Tapie will have to return the compensation he received (from the state) seven years ago.

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