Source: Sports Weekly
On February 14, the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) announced that in the arbitration proceedings relating to Russian figure skater Camilla Vallieva, the international Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Skating Union (ISU) filed a complaint rejected, and Valieva was allowed to continue to participate in the Beijing Winter Olympics.
On February 9, 2022, after the banned substance trimetazil was detected in Vallieva's blood samples, RUSADA lifted her temporary ban on Vallieva and allowed her to continue to participate in the Winter Olympics. The International Olympic Committee, the WADA and the International Skating Federation have questioned the decision of russia's anti-doping agency (RUSADA) to cancel Valyeva's temporary ban. The Court of Arbitration for Sport received its complaint in Beijing on February 11.
The CAS wrote in the judgment: Based on the very limited facts of the case and after considering the relevant legal issues, it was decided that the athletes should not be temporarily banned.
Cas explains why Valieva was not banned:
Walieva is under the age of 16 and is a "Protected Person" (WADC) under the World Anti-Doping Regulations, which specify different standards of evidence and lower sanctions against protected persons.
Taking into account the basic principles of fairness, proportionality, irreparable damage and relative balance of interests between the applicant and the athlete, the athlete did not test positive during the Beijing Olympics and will still be subject to disciplinary action based on the following cases:
The CAS arbitration panel also highlighted the serious problem of untimely notification of the results of the anti-doping tests conducted by athletes in December 2021, which affected the athletes' ability to make certain legal requirements for their own interests, and that such delayed notification was not Vallieva's fault.
Finally, the panel found that a temporary suspension of Vallieva would be appropriate.
At the same time, CAS also stressed that the arbitration result is only for the question of whether Vallieva should be temporarily banned, and has not ruled on the merits of the case, nor has it requested to review the legal consequences related to the results of the figure skating team competition at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, as these issues will be reviewed in other procedures.