Valieva never pleaded guilty. Details of future court hearings are known
Valeria Kukaleva September 15, 2023, 15:15 Moscow time Audio version: Your browser does not support the audio element.
We analyze in detail the new statement from the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS), in which the dates of the matches are published.
The Court of Arbitration for Sport has officially announced the dates of the hearings in the doping case of Kamila Valieva, accused at the 2022 Olympic Games. The meetings will take place on September 26, 27 and 28, 2023, September 29 It’s reservation day. The parties will be heard at the CAS headquarters in Lausanne, Switzerland, and some witnesses and experts, including Valieva and her representatives, will speak by videoconference.
Let’s take a closer look at the CAS statement to understand and remember which parties are involved in the process, what they require and how exactly the meetings will take place.
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Who is involved in the process?
Four parties are involved:
Kamila Valieva; Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA); World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA); International Skating Union (ISU).
The CAS referee panel includes:
President: James Drake (lawyer, British and Australian citizen); arbitrators: Jeffrey Mishkin (lawyer, US citizen), Dr. Mathieu Maisonneuve (law professor, French citizen).
American Mishkin was chosen to participate in the ISU and WADA hearings, and Valieva’s side nominated Dr. Maisonneuve.
RUSADA acts as a plaintiff in one procedure and as a defendant in another: representatives of the national anti-doping agency decided not to nominate candidates.
Kamila Valieva and Eteri Tutberidze at the Beijing Olympics
Photo: Alexander Safonov, “Championship”
What Valieva and other parties demand
Kamila Valieva claims the anti-doping rule violation was unintentional and insists there is no evidence of her guilt or negligence. The skater’s side considers that the disqualification should not last more than two years and no result should be annulled.
Valieva demands not to annul her results and not to take away her gold at the 2022 Russian Championships, in which she underwent a doping test for trimetazidine, which came back positive.
The ISU demands that the CAS punish the athlete with a four-year suspension, starting December 25, 2021, in addition to invalidating all the results she has achieved during this period.
WADA is also calling for Valieva to be suspended for four years and is challenging an earlier decision that allowed her to compete in the Olympics despite an open doping case.
RUSADA is arguing with its own disciplinary committee (DAC RUSADA) – On December 14, 2022, DAK declared Valieva not guilty of violating anti-doping rules. RUSADA did not agree with the committee’s decision: the anti-doping agency is confident that Valieva is guilty, but previously asked to impose light sanctions, for example, a reprimand.
More details about RUSADA’s appeal:
Does our anti-doping agency also demand Valieva’s disqualification? Let’s clarify the situation.
How will the hearings be held?
The parties to the process exercised their right to confidentiality and did not request public hearings. Consequently, meetings will be held behind closed doors and outsiders will not be allowed to participate. For this reason, the CAS panel denied the United States Olympic Committee’s request to attend the hearing.
On September 26, the parties will make brief opening statements, followed by the first group of witnesses, on September 27, witnesses and experts will be heard, and on September 28, the parties will hear final statements and replies.
If additional time is needed, the hearing will be extended until the 29th.
After the hearing, the CAS Panel will review and issue a decision. The timing of its announcement is currently unknown. The decision will be final, but the parties have the right to appeal within 30 days to the Swiss Supreme Court.
