South Korean swimmer Park Tae-hwan has no legal grounds to take his Olympic ban appeal to the world's top sports tribunal, a national sports official said Sunday.

Park on April 26 filed an appeal for arbitration at the Court of Arbitration for Sport against a Korean Olympic Committee rule barring him from competing at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Summer Olympics based on his doping history. Two days later, he asked that the procedure be put on hold so that he could speak to the KOC one last time before taking further steps. Park is scheduled to meet with KOC representatives on May 25.

Park, the 2008 Olympic gold medalist in the men's 400m freestyle, has been ruled out of the Rio Games because of his recent doping suspension. The KOC stipulates that athletes who've served doping bans aren't eligible to represent the country for three years starting on the day that their suspensions end. Park's ban over a positive drug test began retroactively in September 2014 and ended in March this year.

A KOC official claimed on Sunday, however, that Park has no grounds to take the matter to the CAS.

The official, requesting anonymity, pointed out that under the KOC rules, disputes related to the KOC or its member federations must be resolved by an arbitration board established within the KOC.

Those who wish to appeal the final decision by that arbitration board may only file for an appeal with the CAS within 21 days of the receipt of the decision.

The official said Park can't take his case to the CAS because there has never been any arbitration decision on his case here. He said the KOC is merely applying its national team rule to Park's case.

The CAS informed the KOC last Thursday of Park's arbitration filing, and asked the KOC to let the CAS know of its stance within five days.

Under mounting pressure to allow the country's greatest swimming starter to compete, the KOC announced on April 7 that it wouldn't make a special exception for any particular athlete.

Park's camp regards the declaration as "a decision rendered by a federation, association or sports-related body," as is required by the CAS to file for an arbitration appeal.

Despite his Rio ban, Park chose to compete at the final Olympic trials last month and won the 100m, 200m, 400m and 1,500m freestyle races. He also met the Olympic "A" standards set by FINA, the international swimming governing body, in all four, and would have qualified for Rio if not for the KOC rule.

His victories further fueled the debate on the KOC's stance. Critics say the KOC is unfairly punishing Park twice for the same offense, and the principle of double punishment runs counter to international standards.

In 2011, the CAS handed down a decision against the "Osaka Rule," which barred athletes who had served a doping-related suspension for at least half a year from competing in the following Olympic Games.

The Korea Swimming Federation left Park off its preliminary Olympic team last Wednesday. The deadline to submit the final Olympic swimming roster is July 18. (Yonhap)