CAS OG 22/08 - CAS OG 22/09 - CAS OG 22/10 International Olympic Committee (IOC), World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) & International Skating Union (ISU) v. Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA), Kamila Valieva, Russian Olympic Committee (ROC)
- Skating (figure skating)
- Lifting of a provisional suspension imposed on an athlete for doping
- Jurisdiction ratione materiae of the CAS ad hoc Division
- Jurisdiction ratione temporis of the CAS ad hoc Division
- Protected Person
- Mandatory provisional suspension for Protected Persons
- Filling of a lacuna in the World Anti-Doping Code
- Treatment of provisional suspensions for Protected Persons as optional provisional suspensions
- Irreparable harm
- Delay in the process of samples
1. The CAS ad hoc Division has jurisdiction over disputes envisaged under Article 61(2) of the Olympic Charter, i.e. dispute “arising on the occasion or in connection with the Olympic Games” which means that attention should be paid to the dispute and what the dispute is about. Therefore, even if an alleged anti-doping violation has not been committed on the occasion or in connection with the Olympic Games and the provisional suspension imposed as a result of the alleged anti-doping violation does not specifically target the Olympic Games, the dispute might nevertheless be directly connected with the Olympic Games if the dispute is about whether or not the decision to lift such provisional suspension should be confirmed and the outcome of the dispute is relevant for the athlete’s further participation in the Olympic Games.
2. If the decision which gave rise to the dispute was rendered during the period considered to be relevant under Article 1 of the CAS Ad Hoc Rules, the CAS ad hoc Division has jurisdiction ratione temporis over the dispute. In this respect, it is irrelevant whether the initial facts at the basis of the dispute may have arisen at a previous stage.
3. The World Anti-Doping Code (WADC) 2021 intends to treat Protected Persons differently than other Athletes or Persons in certain circumstances based on the understanding that, below a certain age or intellectual capacity, an Athlete or other Person may not possess the mental capacity to understand and appreciate the prohibitions against conduct contained in the Code.
4. The WADC does not provide an exemption to a mandatory Provisional Suspension for a non-specified substance used by a Protected Person even though the ultimate sanction range for the Protected Person is the same as for other categories of athletes who can avoid a mandatory Provisional Suspension. Put differently, a Protected Person is subject to the same ultimate sanction as other athletes who avoid a mandatory Provisional Suspension. But only Protected Persons can potentially receive a public reprimand and no period of ineligibility and yet be subject to a mandatory Provisional Suspension preventing them from competing for months while their case is being handled. This different and harsher treatment for Protected Persons is inconsistent with the oft-expressed intent of the Code drafters to make the Code apply more leniently and flexibly to Protected Persons in light of their age and inexperience, and their diminished responsibility for rule violations. Exempting older athletes from mandatory Provisional Suspensions in most instances in which they might ultimately be able to establish basis for a short sanction or reprimand but not exempting younger, legally incapable, and immature Protected Persons who might be entitled to a short sanction or reprimand appears clearly to be an unintended gap in the Code.
5. When CAS panels find a lacuna, or a gap, in the WADC, this has been the basis for a CAS panel to find a gap filling construct that would ameliorate an overly harsh or inconsistent outcome applying the overarching principle of justice and proportionality on which all systems of law, and the WADC itself, is based. This is an exercise in interpretation, not in rewriting rules or making policies that are better made by sporting bodies exercising proper governance.
6. In cases involving Protected Persons, Provisional Suspensions should be evaluated as optional Provisional Suspensions under the WADC 2021 and its progeny.
7. While it is not in itself sufficient that an athlete is prevented from competing in sports events to justify a stay in itself, given the finite and brief career of most athletes, a suspension (subsequently found to be unjustified) can cause irreparable harm, especially when it bars the athlete from participating in a major sports event.
8. While athletes are held to a high standard in meeting their anti-doping obligations, at the same time, the anti-doping authorities are subject to mere recommendations on time deadlines that are designed to protect athletes from late- or inconveniently-arising claims. The flexibility of the recommendations and guidelines applicable to WADA-accredited labs contrasts with the stringency of the rules on Provisional Suspensions. Although all athletes’ samples are anonymous, it should be possible for anti-doping laboratories and authorities to handle anti-doping tests in a swift manner when the samples are collected at significant pre-events that may constitute selection events for the Olympic Games.
In February 2022 the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) has reported an anti-doping rule violation against the Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva (15) after her sample, collected on 25 December 2025, tested positive for the prohibited substance Trimetazidine.
After notification a provisional suspension was ordered on 8 Februay 2022 and consequently the Athlete was prohibited from participation in the 2022 Beijing Olympic Games.
Yet the RUSADA Disciplinary Anti-Doping Committee (DADC) decided on 9 February 2022 to lift the Athlete's provisional suspension as it established that under the Russian ADR and the WADC 2021 the minor Athlete is a Protected Person.
The DADC accepted the explanation and evidence that the prohibited substance entered the Athlete's system through the use of a contaminated product, i.e. the medication used by her grandfather.
Hereafter on 11 and 12 February the IOC, WADA and ISU appealed the DADC Decision of 9 February with the CAS Ad Hoc Division at the Beijing Olympic Games. IOC, WADA and ISU requested the Ad Hoc Panel to set aside the Appealed Decision and to re-instate the Provisional Suspension imposed by RUSADA on 8 February 2022.
The Athlete in her defence argued that:
- The source of the inadvertent contamination has been established by the DADC after careful analysis, in connection with her interacton with her grandfather, who regularly takes the medicine Trimetazidine.
- The DADC correctly had acknowledged that the Athlete is a Protected Person due to her age;
- The DADC accepted that the Athlete would not have any competitive advantages by consuming the Trimetazidine based on the medical experts' testimonies.
- Under the Rules the conditions are met in order to lift the Provisional Suspension.
RUSADA contended that the analysis in the Stockholm Lab was delayed due to pandemic-related staff shortages and is confident that the Athlete will be able to complete her submission with respect of evidenc in the proceedings before CAS whereas she has a lesser burden of proof as a Protected Person.
The ROC asserted that in the present case concrete evidence showing the source of the contamination is not required (as the Athlete is a Protected Person) and are not available (due to the undue delay in the reporting of the adverse analytical finding by the Anti-Doping Laboratory). As a result the Panel must rely on circumstantial evidence and decide to confirm the Appealed Decision if the scenario submitted by the Athlete with regard to contamination with the Prohibited Substance is more likely that the different scenario of a voluntary ingestion.
The CAS Ad Hoc Panel holds that it is uncontested that the Athlete is clearly a Protected Person under the Russian ADR and that the WADC 2021 intends to give special treatment to the Protected Persons like the Athlete.
The Panel finds that in cases involving Protected Persons, their Provisional Suspensions should be evaluated as optional Provisional Suspensions under WADC 2021 Article 7.4.2 and its progeny.
The Panel determines that the Athlete was entitled to benefit from being subject to an optional Provisional Suspension as a Protected Person and that, under the facts and circumstances, the option not to impose a Provisional Suspension should have been exercised so that she would not be prevented to compete in the Games.
Further the Panel considers in this case:
- the length of time it took for the laboratory to submit its report of an AAF involving the Athlete;
- the timing of that relative to the conduct of the Women’s Single Skating event at the Games;
- the difficulty to be faced in the Athlete not being able in
the current situation, right in the middle of the Games, to muster proof to support her defence of the ADRV being asserted against her; - the relatively low level of the prohibited substance found
in her sample; - the fact that she has tested negative in multiple tests before;
- after the test in question the case she has attempted to muster on contamination whether in a product or through domestic contamination, and the likely low level of sanction
she will face if found to have committed an ADRV.
The Panel deems that athletes should not be subject to the risk of serious harm occasioned by anti-doping authorities’ failure to function effectively at a high level of performance and in a manner designed to protect the integrity of the operation of the Games. Accordingly the Panel finds that the Provisional Suspension should remain lifted.
Therefore the CAS Ad Hoc Division decides on 17 February 2022:
- The Ad Hoc Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sport has jurisdiction to determine the Applications filed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and International Skating Union (ISU).
- The Applications filed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and International Skating Union (ISU) are dismissed.
