Guilty for a day – Newspaper Kommersant No. 6 (7451) dated 01/14/2023

The conflict between the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and Russian anti-doping institutions over the very high-profile and complex doping case of figure skater Kamila Valieva seems to continue. The Disciplinary Committee of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) fully acquitted Valieva, whose positive test became known after the Russian team won the team tournament as part of last year’s Beijing Olympics, without finding signs of “guilt or negligence” in her actions. WADA, which insisted on a four-year, that is, in fact, the maximum period of disqualification for an athlete, has already announced that it will challenge the decision in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). However, RUSADA is not yet ready to consider the verdict of the disciplinary committee final.

The World Anti-Doping Agency reported that the Russian Anti-Doping Agency informed it of the decision made by the disciplinary committee of the structure regarding the doping case of the famous figure skater Kamila Valieva. The Committee, formally an independent body, acknowledged that Ms. Valieva committed a doping violation, but did not find signs of “guilt or negligence” in her actions. He considered it unacceptable to apply any sanctions against Kamila Valieva, except for the annulment of the results shown on the day she passed a positive test – December 25, 2021. The athlete was analyzed during the Russian Championship in St. Petersburg, where she won gold. Now, therefore, it should go to runner-up Alexandra Trusova.

This is one of the most procedurally complex doping processes in world sport in recent years. The fact that the banned drug trimetazidine was found in the St. Petersburg test of Kamila Valieva, at that moment the undisputed leader in the world women’s single skating, became known during the Beijing Olympics in February last year, shortly after the end of the team tournament. The Russian team won it largely thanks to Valieva. She brought her 20 points out of 74, excelling in both the short and free programs.

It turned out that RUSADA, having learned about the test, temporarily suspended the athlete from the competition, but the suspension was successfully challenged in an independent disciplinary committee. The International Olympic Committee (IOC), which indefinitely postponed the official awards ceremony for the winners of the Beijing team tournament due to the history of Kamila Valieva, WADA, as well as the International Skating Union (ISU) disagreed with his position and filed appeals with CAS. The protests were rejected.

At that time, CAS stated that a temporary suspension could not be imposed on Kamila Valieva due to exceptional circumstances. The fact is that, as a minor figure skater (she turned 16 in April), Valieva, in accordance with the World Anti-Doping Code, was the so-called protected person. Such a status implies the possibility of a special treatment of an athlete in those situations when he commits a violation of the regulations or is suspected of it, for example, in the form of a significant, up to a warning, mitigation of punishment. Kamila Valieva, who never admitted her guilt, was allowed to compete in the individual Olympic tournament, but took only fourth place in it.

RUSADA, which was ordered by international sports authorities to investigate the incident with the figure skater, reported on its completion back in mid-September, citing the same exceptional status of Kamila Valieva. Paragraph 4.1 of the International Standard for Results Management allows for the protection of the interests of young athletes to make confidential “all processes and procedures related to results management, including the prosecution and the final decision.” The Russian agency clarified that “it does not intend to announce the date of the hearing, the decision or other details in the case of the figure skater”, who, like the vast majority of other domestic athletes, due to the sanctions imposed by international federations against the backdrop of Russia’s military operation in Ukraine, this season performs only in domestic tournaments, and in December she won silver at the next Russian championship in Krasnoyarsk.

Meanwhile, the position taken by RUSADA, which until mid-December was in the status of an organization deprived of recognition due to earlier doping sanctions, has actually provoked its new conflict with WADA. Back in November, the head anti-doping structure, without waiting for the verdict of the Russian authorities, defiantly transferred the “Valiyeva case” to the CAS, specifying that the Russian authorities responsible for investigating the incident, in its opinion, deliberately dragged out the process and “did not meet a reasonable deadline.” Moreover, WADA demanded that the skater be suspended for the maximum period for first-time doping violations without extenuating circumstances of four years, as well as to cancel all her official results from December 25, 2021. The fulfillment of these requirements, by and large, would mean the end of Valieva’s not so long ago begun adult career and would lead to the loss of the Russian team victory in the Olympic team tournament.

There is no doubt that the conflict will not come to naught after the RUSADA disciplinary committee makes a decision on the case of Kamila Valieva. Rather, on the contrary, there are already signs of its possible aggravation. WADA immediately made it clear that it was extremely dissatisfied with the information received. The agency emphasized that it must first examine the requested materials with the reasoning part of the decision for its compliance with the World Anti-Doping Code, but added that, “based on already known elements of the case”, it is “concerned” by the wording about the absence of “fault or negligence”. WADA warned that it was going to “exercise its right to appeal to the CAS without delay” and to put an end to the case “as soon as possible.”

However, RUSADA itself does not seem ready to recognize the decision of the disciplinary committee as final. Veronika Loginova, director general of the agency, told TASS that after “receiving the full text,” the structure will conduct a “legal assessment” of it. Ms. Loginova does not rule out that RUSADA itself will “consider the possibility” of appealing the verdict.

Alexey Dospekhov