Sport: A row in the America's Cup and the end for Malta?

The tug-of-war over the last-minute challengers in the 36th America's Cup is nearing its finale. According to reliable information, the American Cup expert and Sailing Illustrated blogger Tom Ehman reported overnight that at least the Malta Altus Challenge will withdraw on Friday. He was told this by the team itself. Whether the Dutch campaign DutchSail and the second American initiative Stars & Stripes will be able to fulfil the entry fee requirements in time remained unclear at first.

In a press release issued by the Cup organisers and defenders at around midnight on Thursday, it was announced that all three "late entrants" - the Malta Altus Challenge, DutchSail and Stars & Stripes - have been recognised as valid by the Cup arbitration tribunal chaired by Australian David Tillett. For the Dutch, this applies with the restriction that they are not - as originally planned - allowed to enter the Cup battle with their two home clubs, the Royal Maas Yacht Club and the Royal Netherlands Yacht Club, but only with one.

The press release from the Cup organisers gave a deep insight into the already apparently strained relations between Emirates Team New Zealand and its Italian "Challenger of Record" Luna Rossa (Italy) on the one hand and the challengers and Cup record winners New York Yacht Club with its Team American Magic on the other. The press release from New Zealand stated: "The Challenger of Record and the Defender had already reached an agreement under which the (late) challenges had been accepted. An addendum to the protocol had been published which allowed the three late challengers to pay the entry fees in instalments. Despite this co-operative agreement, the New York Yacht Club decided to pursue the case further. This anti-competitive stance has caused further delay and uncertainty for the teams and frustrated the Challenger of Record and defenders who have been working together in the best interests of the event."

For the time being, the Kiwis and the Italians have passed the buck to the Americans in the difficult struggle for as many Cup players as possible. There are now "concerns" that the Malta Altus Challenge could continue. At the same time, the Defender and Challenger of Record assured the last-minute challengers DutchSail and Stars & Stripes from Long Beach Yacht Club that they would continue to provide intensive support in their endeavours. However, it initially remained unclear whether the two teams would be able to pay the required registration fees and performance guarantees totalling 1.5 million US dollars by Friday.

The latest decisions of the arbitration tribunal regarding outstanding payments can be found here.

The arbitration decision in case 4 can be found here.