The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said on Friday that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had violated the Anti-Doping Code by allowing 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva to participate in individual competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics despite positive results of her doping test
MOSCOW (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 18th February, 2022) The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) said on Friday that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) had violated the Anti-Doping Code by allowing 15-year-old Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva to participate in individual competition at the Beijing Winter Olympics despite positive results of her doping test.
"The reasoned award confirms that the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) Panel decided to ignore the clear and unambiguous terms of the 2021 World Anti-Doping Code (Code) regarding the criteria for lifting a mandatory provisional suspension," WADA said in a press release.
According to the statement, the decision marked an optional, not a mandatory provisional suspension for "protected persons" (athletes under 16 years old). The WADA stressed that this had created a precedent of persons under 16 years old allowed to compete without clarifying under what circumstances they tested positive for doping.
Earlier in February, the� International Testing Agency said that Valieva's probe, which was performed by a laboratory accredited by the World Anti-Doping Agency on December 25, contained a banned substance called trimetazidine. The Russian Anti-Doping Agency suspended Valieva. However, after the athlete's appeal, the suspension was lifted.
The International Olympic Committee, the World Anti-Doping Agency and the International Skating Union filed a complaint with the Court of Arbitration for Sport. The court rejected the appeals and allowed Valieva to participate in Olympic individual competitions.
The figure skater became the champion in team competitions at the Olympic Games and took fourth place in the individual tournament.
