Related cases:
- FIA 2010 FIA vs Igor Walilko
October 11, 2010 - CAS 2010/A/2268 Igor Walilko vs FIA
September 15, 2011 - Swiss Federal Court 4A_636/2011 Igor Walilko vs FIA
June 18, 2012
On 11 October 2010 the FIA Anti-Doping Committe decided to impose a 2 year period of ineligibility on Igor Walilko (the Driver) for committing an anti-doping rule violation after his sample tested positive for the prohibited substance Nikethamide.
Hereafter the Driver appealed the FIA-decision with CAS in November 2010. On 15 September 2011 the Court of Arbitration for Sport decides to reduce the period of ineligibility against the Driver from 24 months to 18 months.
The FIA duly notes that the Panel of the CAS has on the whole matched the position of the FIA in recognising the submission of minors to the FIA anti‐doping rules, the violation of these rules in the case in point, the fact of the presence of a prohibited substance, and thus the need to strip the driver of his points and impose a suspension, in the absence of any explanation by the athlete concerning the presence of the substance.
Nevertheless, considering the case to be exceptional on account of the athlete’s very young age and the level of competition concerned, reserved for minors under the age of 15, the Panel reduced the suspension of the athlete from 24 to 18 months in application of the principle of proportionality, while specifying that this decision cannot stand as a precedent and that such a suspension remains essential in order to protect young athletes and encourage them, and those around them, to exercise extreme caution.
