The lawyer explained why RUSADA appealed the decision of the RUSADA Disciplinary Committee in the Valieva case

Anna Antseliovich, head of sports practice at the legal agency Clever Consult, explained the advisability of appealing by the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) against the decision of the RUSADA Anti-Doping Disciplinary Committee (DAK) in the case of the figure skater Kamila Valieva .

Previously, RUSADA had stated that it would consider such a possibility after receiving the reasoned part of the DAK decision. The committee ruled that although the skater committed an anti-doping rule violation, there was “no fault or negligence on her part”. Valieva escaped sanctions other than the cancellation of her results on the date of the sample (December 25, 2021).

— The Anti-Doping Disciplinary Commission and RUSADA are two different things. The World Anti-Doping Code and Russian Anti-Doping Rules state that the body that conducts the review and imposes a sanction must be operationally independent of the Anti-Doping Organization.

In fact, the Anti-Doping Disciplinary Commission is a quasi-arbitral body, arbitration, where RUSADA is a party and the accused athlete is also a party. When one of the parties disagrees with the decision, they have the right to appeal.

We usually come across the athlete’s right to challenge the decision, but RUSADA also has such a right. They are rarely used, of course, but there are precedents. We recently went with them to the National Center for Sports Arbitration. That is, RUSADA uses its right to appeal the DAK’s decision both domestically and internationally – to the CAS. With an appeal in the case of Valieva, RUSADA should go to the CAS. Since Valieva is an athlete of international status, Antseliovich cites Metaratings.ru.

Valieva at the Beijing Olympics as part of the Russian team won gold in team competitions. Before the personal tournament, it became known that the illegal drug trimetazidine was discovered during the figure skater’s doping test. The CAS allowed Valieva to participate in the individual competitions, where she finished fourth.