RUSADA will conduct an investigation against the personnel of Kamila Valieva

The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) initiated an investigation into the staff of figure skater Kamila Valieva, whose doping test showed a positive result. The statement is published on the website of the organization.

RUSADA explained that a personnel check will be carried out due to the fact that the athlete is a minor. “The purpose of this investigation is to identify all the circumstances of a possible anti-doping rule violation in the interests of a “protected person”,” the statement said.

The organization also explained why the result of the December doping test Valieva was received only in February during the Olympic Games in Beijing. “According to the data sent by the laboratory to RAA RUSADA, the reason for the delays in testing and reporting by the laboratory was another wave of COVID-19, an increase in the incidence among laboratory personnel, and quarantine rules,” the statement says.

Earlier, on February 11, it became known that the International Olympic Committee (IOC) filed an appeal with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) against RUSADA’s decision to cancel Valieva’s temporary suspension from the Olympics.

The reason for the suspension was the presence in the doping test of the athlete of the prohibited drug trimetazidine. Valieva’s case will be considered by a special commission before the start of the individual tournament at the Games, which starts on February 15.