MOSCOW, November 30, Vasily Bogdanov. Sports lawyer Anna Antseliovich stated that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) can publish a decision in the case of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva only with the consent of the athlete herself.
On Thursday, the International Skating Union (ISU) announced that CAS plans to publish a decision on the doping case of Olympic champion Valieva by February 12, 2024.
“For a protected person, which is Valieva, it is possible to publish (the decision) only with her consent. Perhaps they agreed to announce exactly the effective part of the decision, without motives and details. Since, in any case, it will be clear to everyone what kind of decision was made. In addition, in this way it will be possible to suppress various rumors,” Antseliovich said.
The first hearings in Valieva's case took place in Lausanne on September 26-28. The panel heard testimony from the parties, experts and witnesses. Following the meetings, the arbitrators decided to prepare additional documentation, which became the reason for postponing the hearings to November 9-10. CAS announced on November 10 that the panel of arbitrators would render a verdict in Valieva’s case in January 2024.
Valieva passed a positive doping test on December 25, 2021, the day of the free program of the Russian Championship. This became known on February 8, 2022 — the day after the end of the team tournament at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, where the Russian team with Valieva won.
After an investigation, the disciplinary anti-doping committee of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) determined that there was no guilt or negligence and did not impose any punishment on the athlete, but annulled her result at the Russian Championship. WADA referred Valieva's case to CAS, with ISU and RUSADA joining as parties. Due to the doping case, the International Olympic Committee decided not to reward the medalists of the team figure skating tournament at the 2022 Games until a verdict is rendered.