MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 25th January, 2021) The Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) told Sputnik it would not file an appeal against the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)' decision in its doping row with the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA), even despite considering the sanctions as "groundless and unfair."
After Moscow rejected WADA's four-year ban on Russian athletes' participation in major sports events (motivated by alleged non-compliance with the world anti-doping code), the WADA Executive Committee filed an arbitration request with the CAS. On December 17, CAS announced its decision, in fact easing the WADA sanctions. Under the CAS ruling, Russian athletes cannot compete in major international competitions under the Russian flag until December 16, 2022. CAS also barred Russian officials from attending Olympic and Paralympic Games for two years.
"Assigning Primary importance to the interests of Russian athletes and the Russian sports in general, and emanating from the need to achieve legal certainty, RUSADA made a decision not to challenge the CAS decision in the Federal Court of Switzerland. RUSADA believes 'this chapter was closed' and is committed to work with WADA in order to achieve full restoration of RUSADA's status," the Russian agency said in a press release.
"RUSADA believes that this process will be constructive and based on a transparent and realistic 'road map' in accordance with RUSADA obligations under the WADA Code. RUSADA will continue defending the rights of 'clean' Russian athletes in order to resist any discrimination against the Russian sports," the press release read on.
The agency emphasized its "strong disagreement" with alleged "data manipulation."
"RUSADA believes such judgments are based on an incorrect and one-sided assessment of facts ... We regret that the CAS did not take into consideration the detailed arguments and evidence presented by RUSADA and other individuals involved in the case throughout the proceedings," the agency went on to say.
"We also regret that RUSADA was recognized as non-compliant with the WADA Code although it did not commit any violations, which WADA directly admitted. RUSADA believes this decision contradicts basic principles of justice and is unfounded, given RUSADA's significant progress in restoration (which was also directly admitted by WADA). This is why RUSADA sees CAS' sanctions as groundless and unfair," RUSADA went on to say.
At the same time, RUSADA welcomed positive decisions by the CAS, the refusal to impose collective sanctions on the "clean" athletes, above all.
"Nevertheless, RUSADA welcomes and supports responsible and sensible approach of the arbitrators to the Russian athletes ... Rejecting WADA's request to impose collective sanctions on innocent athletes, the arbitrators acted in the spirit of fair play and justice, as they delivered a decision reflecting and supporting fundamental values and interests of the entire international sports community," RUSADA added.
"RUSADA welcomes and supports the refusal of the arbitrators' panel to apply collective punishment measures against the Russian sports, which WADA requested. Such measures fundamentally contradict the spirit and the letter of the Olympic Charter and could set a dangerous precedent, threatening the foundations of the Olympic movement. Innocent athletes should never bear responsibility for the actions by a small number of individuals committing anti-doping rules violations, investigation and sanctions against whom should be on one-to-one basis," RUSADA concluded.
