MOSCOW, February 1. /TASS/. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) respects the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to hand a four-year ban to Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, IOC President Thomas Bach said on Thursday.

On January 29, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) ruled to disqualify Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva for four years for violating anti-doping rules 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.

"We have taken note of the CAS decision, which of course will be accepted by the IOC," Bach said speaking at a news conference at the 2024 Winter Youth Olympic Games (YOG) in South Korea.

"Everybody in the world has the right to criticize a court decision and to have their own opinion," Bach continued. "For us it’s about the full respect of this decision and for us this case is confirmation of our determination and our requests, which we have been making repeatedly."

"Doping cases cannot be only a matter for athletes’ concern, but the entourage of the athletes have to be inquired more and better and deeper and have also to be sanctioned. This is even more true when it comes to minors," the IOC chief added.

The International Skating Union (ISU) decided on Tuesday to strip Russia of its gold medal at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing in the team figure skating event by taking away some of the team’s previously earned points and subsequently awarding it the bronze medal.

The world’s governing skating body ruled on Tuesday to hold back 20 out of 74 points earned by Russian figure skaters in the team event after Valieva’s suspension, thereby putting Russia in 3rd place with 54 points, Team USA in 1st place (65 points) and Japan in second (63 points).

Valieva’s doping case

On February 14, 2022, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) turned down an appeal filed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Skating Union (ISU) against the decision of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) to lift a temporary suspension of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva.

The International Testing Agency announced on February 11, 2022, that Valieva’s doping sample, collected on December 25, 2021 during the Russian Figure Skating Championships in St. Petersburg, returned a positive result for a banned substance, trimetazidine. This triggered the postponement of the awards ceremony for the 2022 Olympic team competition, won by Russia.

RUSADA imposed a provisional suspension on Valieva on February 8, 2022, but the Russian athlete submitted an appeal and it was granted the following day. The previous decision on the provisional suspension was voided by the RUSADA Disciplinary Committee.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC), the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) and the International Skating Union (ISU) filed appeals against this decision but the Court of Arbitration for Sport rejected them on February 14, 2022. The Russian skater was permitted to compete in the individual Olympic competition and finished fourth.