Oscar Pistorius will be welcome at high-profile meetings in both Great Britain and Italy if he wins the right to compete against able-bodied athletes at his Court of Arbitration for Sport appeal tribunal.

The South African's lawyers began fighting his case to overturn a ban imposed by the IAAF in January at a two-day CAS hearing in Lausanne on Tuesday.

If Pistorius, who runs on prosthetic legs, is successful in his appeal, meeting organisers of Rome's Golden League and those staged by Fast Track on UK soil have said they would welcome him to their events.

"Obviously I await the decision of the CAS, but I have an appointment with him [Pistorius] on May 15 to discuss what he wants to do," said Rome meeting director Luigi D'Onofrio.

"I know he wants to compete. If the CAS finding isn't in his favour he can compete in the Paralympic race, probably over 200 metres.

"If it is in his favour he can compete against able-bodied athletes."

Fast Track, who organise all high-profile British meetings on behalf of UK Athletics, will almost certainly offer him an invitation to at least one of its promotions.

"We're watching the CAS tribunal closely and will formulate our views when a decision is announced," said Fast Track communications director Steve Chisolm.

"Providing the IAAF, under whose rules we operate, are happy if he is cleared, we would feel comfortable for him to compete and invite him."

Today Pistorius's lawyers will argue using evidence of tests carried out by experts at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that his prosthetic legs do not give him an unfair advantage when racing able-bodied rivals.

The IAAF will produce results evaluated from scientific tests Pistorius undertook at the German Sport University of Cologne last November.

Professor Peter Bruggemann, who supervised those tests, provided documentation which the IAAF believes offers "overwhelming scientific evidence" that Pistorius's 'Cheetah' blades are technical aids.

The world governing body therefore suspended Pistorius from competing against able-bodied athletes which will deny him a personal dream of competing at this summer's Beijing Olympic Games.

That led Pistorius to lodge his appeal to CAS on February 13 although even if winning his case, he still needs to qualify for the South African team.

No statements from any of the parties involved are expected after the first day of the closed hearing concludes and the tribunal's findings may not be known for a few weeks.

Sporting Life / Eurosport