CAS 2022_A_8766 Varvara Lepchenko vs ITF - Settlement

In August 2021 the International Tennis Federation (ITF) has reported an anti-doping rule violation against the American tennis player Varvara Lepchenko after her A and B samples tested positive for the prohibited substances Adrafinil and Modafinil.

The ITF Independent Tribunal concluded that the Athlete failed to demonstrate that the violation was not intentional and decided on 3 March 2022 to impose a 4 year period of ineligibility on the Athlete. Hereafter in March 2022 the Athlete appealed the ITF decision with the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS).

The Athlete testified that following the ITF Tribunal hearing she returned home and found, in the lining of a travel bag that had been stored away, a bottle of bemetil capsules. She had purchased this product in Ukraine in October 2020 and from which she had consumed capsules in the days prior to the competition.

Those capsules, and an unopened bottle independently sourced by the ITF, were sent for testing at a WADA-accredited laboratory, both of which were found to contain Modafinil, which was not listed on the bottle label.

As a result the ITF accepted that the source of the Modafinil acid in the Athlete's samples was her ingestion of capsules of bemetil that she had purchased in Ukraine and were, unknowen to her, contamined with Modafinil.

The ITF holds that this is the Athlete's second Anti-Doping Rule Violation. However, because she bore No Fault or Negligence for her first violation, the current violation is treated as her first for the purpose of sanction. 

In October 2022 the Parties reached an agreement and they requested the Panel to confirm the content of a Settlement agreement into a Consent Award.

The parties have agreed with the written approval of WADA that:

1. Ms. Lepchenko has committed a violation of the Programme;
2. she must serve a period of ineligibility of twenty-one months; and
3. that period starts on 19 August 2021, and so ends at midnight on 18 May 2023. In accordance with Programme articles 9.1 and 10.1.1, all ranking points and prize money obtained by Ms. Lepchenko at the Event and subsequent events prior to 27 July 2021 are disqualified.

Following assessment the Panel deems that it is right to ratify the Settlement Agreement and its terms are incorporated into this Consent Award.

Therefore the Court of Arbitration for Sport decides on 31 January 2023 that:

1. The Settlement Agreement submitted to the CAS Court Office by the Parties on 26 October 2022 is hereby ratified by the Panel with the consent of the Parties and its terms are incorporated into this Consent Award.
2. The arbitral procedure CAS 2022/A/8766 Varvara Lepchenko v International Tennis Federation is terminated and deleted from the CAS roll.
3. The Parties are hereby ordered to perform their respective obligations and duties in accordance with the terms of the Settlement Agreement.
4. In accordance with the Settlement Agreement, the arbitration costs shall be borne by the CAS, save that the CAS Court Office fee of CHF 1,000 paid by Varvara Lepchenko shall be retained.
5. In accordance with the Settlement Agreement, each Party shall bear its own costs and expenses incurred in connection with the present proceedings.
6. All other motions or prayers for relief are dismissed.