CAS sends a signal to the IOC: experts comment on the court decision in Lausanne. The Sports Arbitration has denied all uninvited Russian athletes access to the games. The decision of the arbitration court on doping.

TASS DOSSIER. February 1, 2018 Sports arbitration court decided to uphold the appeals of 28 Russian athletes banned for life from the Olympic Games due to violations anti-doping rules on XXII winter Olympic Games 2014 in Sochi.

The TASS-DOSSIER editors have prepared material about the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Two international organizations are involved in resolving disputes related to sports: the International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS) and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS). ICAS manages the organizational and financial affairs of CAS, ensures the independence of CAS and respects the rights of stakeholders. The CAS directly deals with financial and disciplinary disputes.

In 1981, IOC President Juan Antonio Samaranch proposed the idea of ​​creating a sports legal body. In 1982, a working group led by IOC member Keba Mbaye developed the organization's charter. The document was ratified by the IOC in 1983 and entered into force on June 20, 1984. This day is considered the founding day of CAS, Mbaye became the first president of the organization.

In February 1992, German equestrian Elmar Gundel appealed to CAS the decision of the International Equestrian Federation, which disqualified him because doping was found in the blood of his horse. CAS reviewed Gundel's case and partially upheld his protest, reducing the athlete's period of ineligibility.

Gundel did not agree with the CAS decision and appealed to the Swiss Supreme Court with a complaint that CAS was not an independent organization. In March 1993, the Swiss Supreme Court recognized the independence of the CAS from the International Equestrian Federation. At the same time, he noted that CAS is accountable to the IOC, financed primarily from IOC funds, and that the IOC is authorized to make changes to the CAS charter and appoint judges.

This decision provided the impetus for CAS reform. The organization's charter was completely revised. The main change was the creation of the International Council of Arbitration for Sport, an organization that began to handle the administrative activities and finances of the CAS instead of the IOC. Another important result of the reform was the adoption of the Sports Arbitration Code, which came into force on November 22, 1994 and was subsequently updated in 2004.

Since the CAS reform in 1994, its jurisdiction has been recognized by all international Olympic associations and many national Olympic committees. Since 2003, CAS has also been the final authority in international doping disputes under the World Anti-Doping Agency code.

Structure

The working languages ​​of CAS are English and French. The organization's main office is located in Lausanne. Two additional regional offices have also been created: in Sydney and New York. During the major competitions(since 1996 at the Olympic Games, since 1998 at the Commonwealth Games, at the World and European Football Championships since 2006 and 2000 respectively, from 2014 to Asian Games) temporary tribunals are created.

ICAS structure

ICAS consists of 20 qualified lawyers. Four of them are appointed international sports federations(three - from the Association international federations summer Olympic events sports, one from the Association of International Winter Olympic Sports Federations); four by the Association of National Olympic Committees; four are IOC. The 12 ICAS members in question appoint four additional members responsible for upholding the rights of athletes. These 16 members appoint four more members from among individuals independent of the organizations listed above.

ICAS members are appointed for a four-year term. They cannot be included in the CAS lists of judges or mediators. ICAS can amend the Code of Arbitration for Sports, appoints and removes CAS judges and mediators, is responsible for the financing of CAS, appoints the Secretary General of CAS, etc. From among its members, ICAS elects a president and two vice-presidents for a term of four years, the presidents of both CAS chambers and their deputies. ICAS meets as often as required by CAS activities, but at least once a year.

The President elected by ICAS is also the President of CAS. He can hold meetings of the ICAS board (the board, in addition to the president, includes vice-presidents and presidents of both chambers of CAS). Since 2010, this position has been held by Australian John Coates.

Structure of the CAS The CAS consists of at least 150 judges and 50 mediators (neutral intermediaries who help parties resolve a conflict) appointed by ICAS.

The CAS consists of two chambers: the Ordinary Arbitration Chamber and the Appellate Arbitration Chamber. The Ordinary Arbitration Chamber creates panels of arbitrators whose task is to resolve disputes in the ordinary arbitration procedure. The Chamber of Appeal Arbitration creates groups of arbitrators to consider protests against decisions of disciplinary courts or similar bodies of federations, associations, and other sports organizations.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne on Thursday announced the final decision on the appeals of 39 Russian athletes banned for life by the Commission of the International Olympic Committee(IOC) for violations of anti-doping rules at Sochi 2014.

Thus, the acquitted athletes have the right to replenish the reduced delegation of Olympic athletes from Russia, which has already begun to depart for the Olympic Village.

“Both CAS panels unanimously accepted that the evidence provided by the IOC in relation to this case was not equivalent in each individual case,” the CAS decision said. “In 28 cases, the evidence was found to be inconclusive to establish an anti-doping rule violation by athletes. Accordingly, 28 athletes’ appeals were satisfied, the sanctions were canceled and their personal results in Sochi 2014 were restored."

Completely justified with the lifting of sanctions and restoration of the results shown:

The Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) has already asked the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to send invitations to 15 of the 28 acquitted Russian athletes to the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang no later than February 2:
skeleton- Alexander Tretyakov, Elena Nikitina, Maria Orlova, Sergei Chudinov;
cross-country skiing- Alexander Legkov, Evgeny Belov, Maxim Vylegzhanin, Alexander Bessmertnykh, Evgenia Shapovalova, Natalya Matveeva;
skating- Olga Fatkulina, Alexandra Rumyantseva, Artem Kuznetsov;
luge- Tatyana Ivanova, Albert Demchenko.

The results of another 11 Sochi Olympians are still annulled; their guilt in violating anti-doping rules is considered established, but their lifetime Olympic ban has been replaced by missing out on only one Olympics.

"In 11 cases, the evidence collected was considered sufficient to recognize disqualifications. The decisions of the IOC in these cases were confirmed with one exception: the athletes were found disqualified for next Games in PyeongChang instead of a lifetime ban from the Olympic Games,” reads the CAS verdict.

Found guilty:

It is also indicated that the arbitration will consider the cases of three Russian biathletes Olga Zaitseva, Olga Vilukhina and Yana Romanova after the Olympic Games.

Previously, the IOC found 43 Russian athletes who participated in the Sochi Games guilty of violating anti-doping rules, canceled their results from the 2014 Olympics and banned them for life from participating in the Games.

The decisions were made based on the results of the work of the IOC commission led by Denis Oswald, which was involved in rechecking the doping samples of Russians from the home Games.

As a result, Russia lost 13 Olympic medals in Sochi and lost first place in the medal standings.

Let us note that the basis for imposing sanctions against the Sochi Olympians for the IOC commission, bypassing the presumption of innocence, was only suspicions that they had violated anti-doping rules. With clean doping samples from athletes, the containers for storing them in most cases did not even show signs of tampering (scratches) or any other anomalies.

CAS held hearings on the cases of 39 Russian athletes who were sanctioned by the IOC at the end of January.

Reaction of athletes and officials: now we are just happy

“Of course, the news is excellent, but I don’t even have the strength and emotions to rejoice anymore - I’ve been exhausted for the year. But I’m happy, of course. As for the Olympics, now the decision is up to the IOC - whether to invite me or not, if they invite me, then I’ll go, of course,” said "R-Sport" Olympic champion Skeletonist Alexander Tretyakov of the Games in Sochi.

“I’m happy that all charges against me were dropped, a weight has been lifted from my shoulders. I’m very happy now. It’s a shame for the guys who were left behind - as many as 11 people. But I still won’t go to the Olympics, I don’t qualify for the quota. We only have two people are going. I won’t watch the Games themselves, I now have a very strange attitude towards them,” skeleton athlete Olga Potylitsyna admitted to the “Championship”.

“I’m happy, as if I won this medal again,” Elena Nikitina, bronze medalist of the 2014 Games in skeleton, told Sport Express. “We were really looking forward to such a decision. This is a normal court, and not some incomprehensible commission. since facts were taken into account, and not speculation. Of course, there was and could not be any evidence of our guilt. This is the result.”

“From the very beginning, we insisted that our athletes were not involved in any doping fraud, and, of course, now we are simply happy that their good name was restored by the court and all their awards were returned to them,” Interfax quotes the head of the Olympic Committee Russia Alexander Zhukov.

"And the guys and all of us are glad that justice has finally been served. Today's CAS decisions confirm that many who were accused are "clean" athletes. The athletes who fought for their rights and finally won are certainly happy and They are looking forward to continuing their careers. They hope that the IOC will accept the CAS decisions and give them an unconditional right to participate in the upcoming Olympic Games,” Russian Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov told TASS.

“The information received about the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport regarding our athletes confirms that vigorous actions to defend rights both in court and in other categories are justified, can be effective and should continue. And we hope that, of course, these actions will continue ", - RIA Novosti quotes the reaction of the press secretary of the Russian President Dmitry Peskov.

The next stage should be claims in civil courts

Chairman of the State Duma Committee on physical culture, sports, tourism and youth affairs, Mikhail Degtyarev called on athletes and coaches to continue to defend their honor by filing suits for defamation and protection of dignity in civil courts.

“The restoration of the rights of some of our athletes gives them a chance to take part in the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang, and we hope for new victories and medals. We were counting on positive decisions in court. We should always go to court, because silence means agreement with decisions taken or accusations. The next stage should be lawsuits in civil courts in order to refute the false theses of the McLaren report and protect the honor and dignity of athletes and coaches,” he told Sport-Express.

https://www.site/2018-02-01/sportivnyy_arbitrazh_opravdal_pozhiznenno_otstranennyh_rossiyskih_sportsmenov

Sports Arbitration acquits Russian athletes banned for life

Alexandr Yakovlev/Russian Look

On February 1, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne announced a decision on 39 Russian athletes who were previously banned for life from participating in the Olympic Games in connection with a doping scandal.

According to the site's correspondent, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) found that athletes violated anti-doping rules at the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi and decided to disqualify them, thereby depriving them of their medals. In addition, athletes were banned for life from taking part in the Olympic Games in any capacity.

39 Russian athletes filed complaints, saying there was no direct evidence of doping. Arbitration proceedings were opened for each appeal.

On February 1, the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne upheld the appeals of 28 out of 39 Russian athletes, according to a CAS press release.

The list of those acquitted included: Dmitry Trunenkov, Alexey Negodaylo, Olga Stulneva, Lyudmila Udobkina (bobsleigh); Alexander Tretyakov, Sergei Chudinov, Elena Nikitina, Olga Potylitsyna, Maria Orlova (skeleton); Alexander Legkov, Evgeny Belov, Maxim Vylegzhanin, Alexey Petukhov, Nikita Kryukov, Alexander Bessmertnykh, Evgenia Shapovalova, Natalya Matveeva (ski racing); Olga Fatkulina, Alexey Rumyantsev, Ivan Skobrev, Artyom Kuznetsov (speed skating); Tatyana Ivanova, Albert Demchenko (luge); Ekaterina Lebedeva, Ekaterina Smolentseva, Ekaterina Pashkevich, Tatyana Burina, Anna Shchukina (hockey).

Another 11 athletes were found guilty of violating anti-doping rules, but the court replaced the life ban with a ban on participation in the 2018 Games in PyeongChang.

On December 5, 2017, the executive committee of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) suspended the membership of the Russian Olympic Committee and suspended the Russian team from the Winter Olympics. Only those athletes who could prove their “purity” were allowed to participate in the Games. They will not be able to display national symbols, they must perform under the IOC flag, and if they win, the Olympic anthem will be played.

On January 25, the Russian Olympic Committee published a complete list of Russian athletes who received invitations from the IOC to Pyeongchang. As part of the team " Olympic athletes from Russia" will feature 169 athletes in 15 sports (225 Russian athletes were selected for the 2014 Olympics in Sochi).

Against the background of anti-doping courage, the Russian team lost 111 candidates for a trip to Pyeongchang, including more than 10 superstars who claimed gold at the 2018 Olympics. Among them are six-time Olympic champion in short track Viktor An, Olympic champion in biathlon Anton Shipulin, two-time world champion in ski racing Sergei Ustyugov, speed skaters Pavel Kulizhnikov and Denis Yuskov, figure skaters Ksenia Stolbova and Ivan Bukin.

The Olympic Games in Pyeongchang will be held from February 9 to 25. For those athletes who did not receive an invitation to the 2018 Olympics, an alternative tournament will be organized in Sochi.

28 athletes from the list of Russians banned for life from the Olympics were found clean and restored to rights. But it’s too early to celebrate victory.

How the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne has not yet burst or collapsed under the pile of cases of Russian athletes who are not allowed to attend the Olympics is incomprehensible. However, even if it collapsed, it certainly wouldn’t make it any easier for our athletes, because CAS is on at the moment looks like the only authority capable of restoring justice before the start of the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang. If it doesn’t work out here, it won’t work out anywhere in the near future.

There are, of course, civil courts, but this is a matter of strategy - decisions there can be considered for months and years - there is definitely no time before the Korean Games. Although, you must admit, even if in a couple of years some civil court finds the IOC or Richard McLaren and his commission guilty of the fact that the Russians did not go to the Olympics and obliges them to pay substantial compensation in euros, this will be a good consolation. But for now these are dreams, oh, dreams.

But what in reality?

Almost fifty Russian athletes were not allowed to participate in the Olympics following investigations by the IOC commission led by Dennis Oswald. And not just not admitted, but suspended for life! Behind the loud scandals with Shipulin or An, you might have forgotten that the list of suspects, and therefore the accused, included skiers with Legkov and Vylegzhanin, and skeleton athletes with Tretyakov and Nikitina, and bobsledder Kasyanov with accelerators, and luge athlete Ivanova, and a number of speed skaters and hockey players - these are only those who have not yet completed sports career and were preparing to compete in Pyeongchang. All of them had already had their systematic preparations for the Olympics disrupted, but they retained the hope of performing there until the last.

All athletes banned for life from the Games filed appeals with CAS, where they were first heard. Hearings on the cases of Russian athletes in court took place both last week and this week. While the Russians spoke in Lausanne almost every day, the main prosecution witness, Grigory Rodchenkov, appeared in court only once - on January 22. Although he appeared - this is an incorrect definition, because Rodchenkov gave his testimony via video link, but his face was covered with an opaque screen, and his voice was changed. You and I can be indignant as much as we like about such a strange procedure for interrogating the main and, according to by and large, the only witness for the prosecution, but only the CAS could decide whether all this was fair.

Could Russian athletes, despite everything that is done to them in recent months, expect justice in Lausanne? Oddly enough, yes, they could. In 2016, before the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, our athletes were not yet deprived of medals or suspended for life, but they were threatened not to be allowed into Brazil. The most famous, of course, was the case of Yulia Efimova, who argued in court that she should not receive double punishment for the same offense, and CAS really sided with the athlete, allowing her to join the team a few days before the start of the Olympics. And this is just one case out of many.

Russian athletes, deprived of Sochi awards and not allowed to Pyeongchang, prepared thoroughly - all the procedural aspects that Western justice loves to pay attention to were observed, so the cases were considered strictly on the merits. Rodchenkov's testimony, scratches on the test tubes, increased levels of salt in the samples - all this was remembered in the second, third or fourth round. And we came to an unexpected conclusion...

The decision was made on 39 Russian athletes- and for all 39, the punishments were softened: at a minimum, lifelong disqualification was lifted. 11 athletes will miss the Olympics in Pyeongchang (the full list of names can be found). But another 28 Russians were completely acquitted and had all their rights restored. Firstly, we are talking about removing the lifelong disqualification from them. Secondly, they are not prohibited from competing at the Olympics in Pyeongchang. Thirdly, their medals from the Sochi Games were returned to them. Full list you can find these 28 lucky ones

News, 15:05 02/01/2018

CAS sends a signal to the IOC: experts comment on the Lausanne court decision

Context

MOSCOW, February 1 - RAPSI, Diana Gutsul.

On Thursday, CAS fully upheld 28 and partially upheld 11 of 39 complaints from Russian athletes banned for life from the Olympic Games over suspected doping, the court said in a press release. The court examined each of the cases individually and fully satisfied the complaints of 28 athletes, recognizing the evidence collected regarding them as insufficient. At the same time, CAS agreed with the accusations against 11 athletes, but decided to cancel the lifelong disqualification and limit themselves to a ban on participation in the upcoming games in Korea.

Not united by the report

Lawyer Artem Patsev, who represents the interests of Russian athletes in court, believes that today's decision confirms the lack of support from the court's independent arbitrators for the IOC's approach.

“Apparently, the CAS arbitrators are thereby calling on the IOC, when making decisions, to be guided by the fundamental principles of Olympism and the legal principles enshrined in the Olympic Charter. This is such a clear and powerful signal from the highest authority that a free interpretation of the charter is unacceptable. I hope the IOC’s approach will change, and the guys who are acquitted will quickly receive an invitation to the games and will be able to go there and perform,” Patsev told RAPSI.

Lawyer Svetlana Gromadskaya recalls that when considering complaints, the court examined evidence regarding each athlete, including the report of Grigory Rodchenkov (director of the Federal State Unitary Enterprise Anti-Doping Center - approx. RAPSI). “Obviously, the evidence presented by the Russian side was enough to conclude that our athletes were not involved in the charges. Of course, this decision indicates a positive trend. I really hope that our athletes will still be in time for the games. The IOC decision initially raised questions. It is good that it is not final, and there is a court that is guided by the principle of individual responsibility. Moreover, the question arises to what extent, in general, the figure of Rodchenkov is credible. approx. RAPSI), I’m sure now everyone has a chance to prove their innocence,” Hromadska said.

Without guilt and punishment

Lawyer Maxim Rovinsky notes that the decision of the appellate court has nothing to do with whether there was a system to support doping in Russia or not. “The court considers each case individually and the evidence separately for each case, so we see that the principle of collective responsibility in the Lausanne court did not find support, this is very important. And this suggests that all athletes who were sanctioned must try to appeal to the courts of sports jurisdiction. This is an example for our other athletes; filing an appeal is not hopeless,” the expert said.

In turn, lawyer Alexey Melnikov is convinced that the whole situation with the exclusion of Russian athletes from participation in competitions was clearly of a political nature and, from a legal point of view, initially did not seem sufficiently justified.

“The arguments of sports organizations sounded extremely unconvincing from the point of view of the law. It was not about individual claims, but a collective imputation of guilt to an entire group of athletes, which is unacceptable in law, since the Latin principle “no guilt - no punishment” applies. I assume that in the case full justification, the court considered it absolutely insufficient to simply mention someone somewhere. Forgive me, but this is a joke: “There is one thing written on the fence, but there is firewood there.” And in this case, can the testimony of one fugitive and offended official, who also organized everything himself, be considered sufficient? approx. RAPSI) I believe there are extremely not enough of them. His testimony is general in nature; he talks about “everyone” and “many”. In the case of partial satisfaction of complaints, I think that the principle of equality was violated. It turned out that Canadian or Norwegian athletes, who were once convicted of the same violation, will now, after the expiration of the term, be able to participate in the games, while Russian athletes will be deprived of this right for life? This is a discriminatory approach based on nationality and is unacceptable. The court—that’s what the court is for—is to see whether there is a situation where an athlete is maliciously using doping, or a situation where a substance is detected in the tests, but the substance entered the athlete’s body by accident,” Melnikov explained.

According to the expert, the decision of the court in Lausanne is legal, and therefore can be welcomed. “This confirms that not everyone is ready to spit on the law just to please the political situation,” Melnikov concluded.

Add to blog

Code for publication:

The decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne on complaints from Russian athletes is a clear signal to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that a free interpretation of the charter is inadmissible, experts interviewed by RAPSI believe.

15:05 01.02.2018

What it will look like:

The decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne on complaints from Russian athletes is a clear signal to the International Olympic Committee (IOC) that a free interpretation of the charter is inadmissible, experts interviewed by RAPSI believe.