WADA considered the CAS decision in the case of the Russian figure skater Valieva a dangerous precedent

The court panel of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) set a “dangerous precedent” when it “ignored the clear and unambiguous provisions” of the World Anti-Doping Code by allowing Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva to compete in the Beijing Olympics despite a positive doping test (A sample).

In a statement released today, WADA warned that “a rewrite of the Code that would appear to allow ‘protected persons’ to continue to compete after testing positive for unspecified substances without any clarification of the circumstances risks undermining the integrity of sporting events and the confidence of athletes in that they are competing on a level playing field,” reports Interfax.

According to the anti-doping agency, “this sets a dangerous precedent, which, as WADA hopes and expects, will be corrected by future CAS commissions.”

Earlier on Friday, the President of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Thomas Bach, called one of the saddest pages of the Beijing Olympics the scandal around Valieva, who was accused of doping.

Recall that Kamila Valieva, who is under investigation in connection with the violation of anti-doping rules, unsuccessfully (twice fell) performed a free program and took only fourth place. For the rental, the skater received 141.93 points. In terms of total performance, the Russian woman scored 224.09 points, although she was in the lead in individual competitions after the short program. At the same time, Valieva won a gold medal in the team tournament at the Beijing Games.

Earlier it became known that the doping test of the Russian figure skater, taken on December 25, 2021 (before the start of the Beijing Olympics) at the Russian Championships, which was held in St. Petersburg, tested positive for the banned cardiac drug trimetazidine. After that, the athlete was conditionally suspended by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA). However, Valieva protested the suspension, and on February 9, RUSADA decided to lift it. The International Olympic Committee appealed this decision to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), but it was not granted.

Let’s add, the competitions of single figure skaters ended the day before. Shcherbakova became the Olympic champion, Trusova won silver.

And today it became known that CAS confirmed the version that the banned drug could have entered Valieva’s body by accident. In addition, the arbitration pointed out that taking trimetazidine for figure skaters is absolutely useless, because it does not affect sports performance in any way.