“The case of Kamila Valieva can be considered closed” – Kommersant FM

The US Olympic Committee hopes to receive the “gold” taken from Russia at the Beijing Games. At least, the organization says that such a decision has already been made by the International Olympic Committee. However, there is no official message from the IOC. Earlier, the Court of Arbitration for Sport disqualified Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva for four years. The minimum concentration of the drug “trimetazidine” was detected in the figure skater’s body in December 2021. Starting from this date, the athlete will be deprived of all awards and titles, including the Olympic gold medal of the team tournament in Beijing. This decision was made by the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The Russian figure skater will be able to return to the ice only in December 2025. For details, see Kommersant FM sports commentator Vladimir Osipov.

No one doubted that Kamila Valieva would be punished for taking a prohibited drug. But even in the current situation, many were waiting for a softer solution. Still, the CAS arbitrators had plenty to choose from, for example, a warning or disqualification for two years. It was these options that seemed like a very real development of events.

Some lawyers, before the verdict was announced, even said that a four-year disqualification was impossible, they say, all this was too much. But in the end, it was for this period that the Russian woman was suspended. And here it is clearly necessary to understand that Kamila Valieva did not deny the presence of the drug in her body. It was only necessary to prove that trimetazidine entered her body accidentally.

Then a version appeared about a grandfather who took this medicine, and the athlete allegedly used a glass of a close relative. But in the end, it was not possible to prove that the drug, which, by the way, according to doctors, increases tolerance to physical activity, increases strength and endurance, entered the athlete’s body by accident.

It is possible that there was an attempt to change the version with the grandfather, and CAS does not like this, sports lawyer Artem Patsev told Kommersant FM: “This kind of jump from one version to another is always perceived extremely negatively by the arbitrators. In this case, they are no longer sure that any of them corresponds to reality, and they ask themselves: is there actually a third, true version?”

However, the stories about doping getting into the body of athletes during the entire period of the fight against prohibited drugs were even cooler than that of the figure skater. Athletes complained about lipstick, various types of creams, including intimate lubricant, and even sex with someone who took these drugs. It’s curious, but almost all athletes of non-Russian origin managed to convince the referees that they were right. Ours have never been so lucky.

And yet, according to sports lawyer Artem Patsev, CAS arbitrators fear that they may be accused of bias: “I don’t think that any political position of certain arbitrators had a serious influence. They, as a rule, care about their reputation and that there is no suspicion about the influence of any factors other than the case materials on them. After all, this could have a big impact on their career, they are very afraid of it.”

In the meantime, claims can be made against the arbitrators of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, says Sergei Alekseev, Chairman of the Sports Law Commission of the Russian Bar Association: “This decision does not comply with the World Anti-Doping Code, the standard and all-Russian anti-doping rules.

The referees did not take into account the age of the athlete: at the time the prohibited substance was discovered, she was only 15 years old, she is a protected athlete. The maximum possible penalty in this case is two years of disqualification.”

In turn, the Kremlin also reacted to the verdict in the case of Kamila Valieva. Presidential press secretary Dmitry Peskov said that if there are any appeal mechanisms, they should be used. From a legal point of view, this is possible if you appeal to the Supreme Court of Switzerland. But, firstly, it is very expensive, and, secondly, the prospects for a positive solution are definitely not great.

Now we can only wait for the decision of the International Skating Union, which must either keep the Beijing Olympic gold medals from other Russian participants in the team figure skating tournament, except Valieva, or take away the awards. But how the discussion of this issue will end in early February is already clear. So Valieva’s case can be considered closed.

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