● From our sister site, TheSportsExaminer.com ●
At 3 p.m. Lausanne time on Monday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport issued its long-awaited decision in the doping case of Russian skater Kamila Valieva, with a clear decision in favor of the World Anti-Doping Agency:
“● The decision taken by the Disciplinary Anti-Doping Committee of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency No. 9/2023 on 24 January 2023 in relation to Ms Kamila Valieva is set aside.
“● Ms Valieva is found to have committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation (ADRV) under Clause 4.1 of the All-Russian Anti-Doping Rules of 24 June 2021 (the Russian ADR).
“● A period of four (4) years ineligibility is imposed on Ms Valieva, starting on 25 December 2021.
“● All competitive results of Ms Valieva from 25 December 2021 are disqualified, with all the resulting consequences (including forfeiture of any titles, awards, medals, profits, prizes, and appearance money).”
The impact will be to disqualify Russia from its gold-medal performance in the Figure Skating Team Event at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing (CHN), where Valieva won both the Short Program and the Free Skate.
The beneficiaries should be the U.S. team, which should be advanced to the gold medal, as well as Japan (bronze to silver) and Canada, which finished fourth and would now get the bronze medals.
The CAS statement added:
“According to Clause 4.1 of the Russian [Anti-Doping Rules], athletes are responsible for any Prohibited Substance found to be present in their samples and the presence of any prohibited substance amounts to an [adverse finding]. In this matter, a prohibited substance, Trimetazidine (TMZ), was found to be present in the sample collected from Ms Valieva on 25 December 2021 during the Russian National Championships in St Petersburg, Ms Valieva did not contest liability in that she accepted that, by reason of the presence of a TMZ in her sample, she had committed an ADRV under Clause 4.1 of the Russian ADR.”
Based on this, the three-arbitrator panel reviewed whether Valieva could establish, based on the written submittals and two sessions of oral argument, that she ingested the Trimetazidine unintentionally:
“Having carefully considered all the evidence put before it, the CAS Panel concluded that Ms Valieva was not able to establish, on the balance of probabilities and on the basis of the evidence before the Panel, that she had not committed the ADRV intentionally (within the meaning of the Russian ADR).”
Valieva, then 15 and now 17, was sanctioned with four years of ineligibility from the date – 25 December 2021 – that she gave the sample that turned up positive.
This is the decision sought by the World Anti-Doping Agency (four years), with the International Skating Union and the Russian Anti-Doping Agency also part of the appeal; both would have accepted lesser penalties.
The decision is appealable to the Swiss Federal Tribunal on procedural grounds, and it can be expected that an appeal will be filed within the required 30 days, which will further delay any action on the finalization of the Beijing Team Event.
And the statement noted that the Court of Arbitration was not asked to deal with the question of the results, which will now be up to the International Skating Union and finally, the International Olympic Committee. The ISU Executive Board is next scheduled for an online meeting on 7 February.
The full decision was not published and since the arbitration rules allow for one party to maintain confidentiality if it desires, may never be. But that is in the future. For now, Valieva was found to have committed a doping violation and was ineligible to compete at Beijing at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games.
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U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee chief executive Sarah Hirshland was more than thrilled by the CAS decision on Monday:
“Today is a day we have been eagerly awaiting for two years, as it is a significant win not only for Team USA athletes but also for athletes worldwide who practice fair play and advocate for clean sport.
“The incredible athletes of Team USA, including Evan Bates, Karen Chen, Nathan Chen, Madison Chock, Zachary Donohue, Brandon Frazier, Madison Hubbell, Alexa Knierim [and] Vincent Zhou, have displayed remarkable fortitude. Their outstanding performances in Beijing will forever symbolize their commitment to clean competition.
“We take immense pride in the United States Figure Skating Team and their historic performance. Not only did they achieve their best-ever finish, score the highest number of points ever, and achieve firsts in three different disciplines, but they also embody the spirit and principles of the Olympic Movement.
“We now anticipate the day when we can wholeheartedly celebrate these athletes, along with their peers from around the world. Their moment is approaching, and when it arrives, it will serve as a testament to the justice and recognition they truly deserve.”
The World Anti-Doping Agency was similarly pleased:
“WADA welcomes the decision by the Court of Arbitration for Sport to uphold its appeal and impose a four-year period of ineligibility on the Russian Olympic Committee figure skater, Kamila Valieva, as well as disqualify her results from the date of the sample collection on 25 December 2021, including all her results during the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing. WADA took this appeal to CAS in the interests of fairness for athletes and clean sport and we believe that has been delivered through this decision.
“The doping of children is unforgivable. Doctors, coaches or other support personnel who are found to have provided performance-enhancing substances to minors should face the full force of the World Anti-Doping Code. Indeed, WADA encourages governments to consider passing legislation – as some have done already – making the doping of minors a criminal offence.”
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The Russian Olympic Committee was furious over the decision, posting a message which included (computer translation from the original Russian):
“Unfortunately, the CAS decision is negative, but we can no longer count on the objectivity and impartiality of this international structure, and we know this from the example of those cases where the [Russian Olympic Committee] itself is involved as a party, including in the case of our suspension based on the decision of the Executive Board of the [International Olympic Committee].
“Of course, one can believe in a coincidence of circumstances when the test result was made public, immediately after the end of Russia’s victorious team figure skating tournament. As well as in pure coincidence, the ISU will make a decision on approving the medals of the Olympic tournament on February 7, the day of the 10th anniversary of the Games in Sochi. In fact, war has been declared on Russian sports, and, as we see, all means are good.
“With regard to the gold medals of our figure skaters, the Russian Olympic Committee has repeatedly emphasized that, in accordance with the applicable rules, the results of team competitions at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games do not depend on the outcome of the consideration of the individual case of Kamila Valieva, and the awards won by our team in Beijing are not legally subject to review.
“CAS did not consider the issue of team results in this process. This is the prerogative of the ISU and the IOC. The ROC will closely monitor further steps and decisions of international sports organizations and, if necessary, take appropriate measures to legally protect Russian interests.”
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said that the decision should be appealed:
“From my point of view, of course, it’s politicized.
“If there are any appeal mechanisms and so on, then, of course, they should be involved. We must protect the interests of our athletes to the end.”
The Chairman of the Russian State Duma Committee on Physical Culture and Sports, Dmitry Svishchev, told the Russian news agency TASS:
“This decision was, unfortunately, expected for us. But at the same time, it is completely politicized. Valieva and her lawyers need to use all opportunities. We support Kamila, who has experienced so much pressure on herself in recent years.
“Many cases of CAS, which is largely affiliated with the International Olympic Committee, have been going on like a carbon copy lately. I think that we shouldn’t expect anything good in the case between the Russian Olympic Committee and the IOC.”
Russian Sports Minister Oleg Matytsin told TASS (computer translation here and following):
“We emphasize that not a single athlete should suffer from a biased attitude for the sake of someone’s political interests, international authorities must prioritize the protection of athletes, which, as we see today, is no longer a priority for some of them.
“The details of the CAS decision must be carefully studied from a legal point of view. The fate of the gold medal in the team event of the 2022 Olympic Games will be decided by the International Skating Union: we urge it to be independent and unbiased.”
The Russian figure skating team physician, Dr. Phillip Shevetsky told TASS:
“I was hoping for an objective and personal assessment of this whole situation, especially at a high legal level. One might assume that this is an absurd accident, but now we see a deliberately planned attack, because, despite the facts in Kamila’s favor, a decision of unprecedented cruelty has been made.
“The work to discredit Russian sports has been going on since 2006, and now they are trying to weaken us more than ever, to destroy us by all means.
“Kamila became a victim of unsportsmanlike wrestling, a bureaucratic sports machine. A unique athlete, there has never been and never will be, but this machine has done everything to destroy the most beautiful thing in sports. They erase all the best and ingenious, created by nature and great labor. And all this in order to take away the Olympic team gold from the Russians. They intend to do this in any way. If they need victory at such a price, then what kind of sport is this anyway?”
Legendary skating coach Tatyana Tarasova said:
“What can I say, there is no justice. It’s a shame that such an honest, wonderful, talented person like Kamila faced such cruel injustice in her youth. Hatred of our country spread to her.”
~ Rich Perelman
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