“The situation will remain unclear until the decision of CAS” – Kommersant FM – Kommersant

by time news

The awards ceremony for the winners of the team figure skaters tournament will not take place amid a doping scandal with Russian Kamila Valieva. This decision was made by the Executive Committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). The results of the team tournament, in which the Russian skaters won thanks to Valieva’s points, were suspended due to her positive doping test taken back in December. The skater herself was allowed to continue participating in the Olympics and compete in individual competitions on February 15. But if she gets on the podium in women’s singles, the awards ceremony will also not take place, the IOC said. Lawyer Darina Nikitina explained what options for the development of events exist.

— The IOC Executive Board was guided by the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), which was received on 14 February. And in its decision, the CAS itself separately noted that the legal consequences for the team competition in figure skating cannot be determined without a decision in the case of the Russian athlete. The decision of CAS is not final, the case will be considered comprehensively, in accordance with the regulations.

Accordingly, we will have to wait for the end of the investigation. I think that the award will most likely have a formal character after the decision has been made. To date, we know that there were no awards in the team standings either. A full consideration of the case in practice takes at least six months. Since the situation has a public outcry, I believe that all the forces of the Court of Arbitration for Sport and representatives of the parties will be thrown to get some kind of final result as soon as possible. But, unfortunately, for figure skating at the moment the situation will remain unclear until the decision of the CAS.

At the same time, the case of Kamila Valieva is under the jurisdiction of RUSADA. We know that the sample was taken at the competition on December 15th. Accordingly, the decision will be made by the jurisdictional committee on the Russian side. At the moment, Kamila Valieva has removed the temporary restriction on performances at the Olympics. CAS also confirmed that the skater could continue to participate in the Games.

The following is the standard procedure. If an Olympian consents to the opening of the “B” sample, or if it is opened by decision of the anti-doping authorities, and the sample is clean, as a rule, the athlete is fully acquitted. But we know that the representatives of the party referred to the contaminated product, respectively, the case will proceed further in a full-fledged format, that is, the doping test is positive and, I believe, no one will refer to the “B” sample.

The degree of guilt of the athlete will be established. Therefore, we need to wait for a full investigation. First, it will be held in Russia and then can be appealed to CAS. The parties also have the opportunity to agree to a single hearing of the case, which will take place only once and only in CAS. When the results of the single competition are known, they will also be in suspended status, and the silver medal will have a golden tint until a decision is made either by CAS or already on appeal.

In addition, WADA did not agree with the sports arbitration decision. The agency noted that Valieva’s sample was checked much longer than the due date only due to the fact that the Russian side did not mark it as a priority.

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