MOSCOW • A Swiss court yesterday upheld doping sanctions that will prevent Russian athletes from competing at major international events under the country’s flag, but halved the period of the ban to two from four years.
The ruling will leave Russian athletes without their flag and national anthem at next year’s postponed Tokyo Olympics and at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, a severe blow to Russian sport which has been hit in recent years by a string of doping scandals.
The World Anti-Doping Agency (Wada) had originally banned Russia from the world’s top sporting events for four years in December, 2019, but the sanction could not be implemented until the end of the appeal process.
Russian government officials or representatives will be banned from attending events such as the Games and world championships in major sports for two years.
Russians will also not be able to be appointed to committees or serve as board members at organisations that must abide by the Wada code.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) said the sanctions, which also bar Russia from hosting or bidding for major sporting events during the two-year period, came into force yesterday and will end on Dec 16, 2022. But hockey’s 2023 world championship, set to be held in St Petersburg, falls outside the scope of the ban.
Russian athletes will also still be allowed to participate in events as neutrals provided Wada does not prove any link to the state-sponsored doping scheme.
It was unclear why the three-judge panel reduced Russia’s punishment even as it largely agreed with Wada’s arguments in the case. It stressed in its ruling that, while it was reducing the sanctions, Russia should not attempt to claim its decision as any kind of vindication.
“This panel has imposed consequences to reflect the nature and seriousness of the non-compliance and to ensure that the integrity of sport against the scourge of doping is maintained,” the panel’s members wrote.
“The consequences which the panel has decided to impose are not as extensive as those sought by Wada. This should not, however, be read as any validation of the conduct of Rusada (Russian Anti-Doping Agency) or the Russian authorities.”
Wada was disappointed the court had not endorsed all of its recommendations but still proclaimed a “landmark” victory.
“Wada is pleased to have won this landmark case,” said Wada president Witold Banka, adding that the verdict has “clearly upheld our findings that the Russian authorities brazenly and illegally manipulated the Moscow laboratory data in an effort to cover up an institutionalised doping scheme”.
But Jim Walden, the lawyer for Russian doping whistle-blower Grigory Rodchenkov, slammed CAS’ decision, saying the tribunal was “unwilling and unable to meaningfully deal with systematic and long-standing criminality by Russia”.
“The decision by CAS to effectively ‘split the baby’ is nonsensical and undeserved,” he added, saying the ruling was made despite “overwhelming proof” of corruption and doping fraud.
NYTIMES, REUTERS