MOSCOW, January 29. /TASS/. A war has been unleashed against Russian sport and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has been biased and unobjective for quite a long time, the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, CAS disqualified Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva for four years for violating anti-doping rules. "A period of four years ineligibility is imposed on Ms. Valieva, starting on December 25, 2021. All competitive results of Ms. Valieva from December 25, 2021 are disqualified, with all the resulting consequences," the CAS press service said in a statement.
Valieva took first place in the team event at the Olympic Games in 2022. The US team was second place, Japan third and Canadians fourth. The Court of Arbitration for Sport ruled that the distribution of medals in the team event at the Beijing Games should be decided by the respective organizations.
"Regrettably, the CAS decision is negative but we cannot count on the impartiality and objectivity of this international structure and we know this on the example of cases where ROC is a party to, including the one on our suspension on the basis of the IOC (International Olympic Committee - TASS) decision. Naturally, one can think that it was a coincidence when testing results were made public immediately after the end of the team tournament that was victorious for Russia. Or that it is a coincidence that the ISU (International Skating Union - TASS) will made a decision of the distribution of the Olympic medals on February 7, when we will mark the 10th anniversary of the Sochi Olympics. But as a matter of fact, a war has been declared to Russian sport and as we can see any means can do," the statement says.
"As for the gold medals won by our figure skaters, the Russian Olympic Committee has repeatedly stressed that under the existing rules, results of team competitions at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games do not depend on the outcome of Kamila Valieva’s individual case and our team’s Beijing Olympics medals cannot be revised legally. In this case, the CAS tackled the results of a team event. This matter is in the competence of the ISU and IOC. ROC will keep a close eye on further steps and decisions of international sports organizations and if necessary will take appropriate measures to ensure legal defense of Russia’s interests," the ROC press service said, adding that a maximally tough sanctions was imposed on Valieva.
"We know that the our athlete’s interests on this case were represented by highly qualified lawyers specializing in sports-related disputes, including in anti-doping matters. We have no doubts that all available reasoning and arguments were maximally fully conveyed to the CAS arbitrators. Over the past two years, we have received no unequivocal, fact-backed answer to what was in focus from the very beginning - why Valieva’s sample taken in December 2021 had been kept at a Swedish laboratory for six weeks in violation of all timeframes," it stressed.