Dhe Court of Arbitration for Sport (Cas) has initiated arbitration proceedings in the doping case involving Russian figure skater Kamila Valiyeva. The Cas announced this on Monday. The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) had appealed to the court in Lausanne because the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (Rusada) had not yet made a decision. The 16-year-old European champion tested positive for the banned substance trimetazidine on December 25, 2021 at the Russian championships.
This only became known at the Winter Olympics in Beijing in February, after Valiyeva had won Olympic gold with the Russian team. A provisional suspension had been lifted, so she was also allowed to compete in the women’s singles and finished fourth as the top favorite. In the team competition, the USA took second place and Japan third.
Wada assumes violation
Wada bases its referral to the Sports Court on Article 15.3 of Rusada’s Anti-Doping Rules. According to the statement, the World Agency can call the Cas if a decision is not made in a case “within a reasonable time limit set by Wada” whether there has been a violation of the rules. The appeal was filed because Rusada failed to make a decision within the time limit set by Wada, it said.
Wada, assuming a doping violation, has requested a four-year ban for Valiyeva and the withdrawal of all competition results she has achieved from December 25, 2021 – with all the ensuing consequences, including the withdrawal of medals, points and prizes, the said Cas with. A time frame for the announcement of the decision could not be given.
