Composition of arbitrators for CAS hearings in Valieva case raises risk of biased result, Valuev believes

Former WBA world champion and now a deputy of the State Duma of the Russian Federation Nikolai Valuev believes that the composition of arbitrators for the hearing of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in the case of the Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva can give biased results.

On Friday, the CAS approved the arbitrators and format of the hearings in the Valieva case. The American Jeffrey Mishkin (appointed by the ISU and WADA) and the French Mathieu Maisonneuve (Valieva’s side) were appointed as referees; the president was the representative of Great Britain and Australia, James Drake. Closed hearings with representatives of all parties will take place on September 26, 27, 28 and 29, 2023.

– Of course, such a composition carries the risk of biased results – this always exists in such matters. Valieva’s case itself is risky from the point of view of dishonest results,” Valuev said, as quoted by Sport24.

Valieva at the 2022 Olympic Games in Beijing helped the Russian team win gold in the team competition. Before the personal tournament, it became known that the banned drug trimetazidine was found during the doping test of the figure skater of the Russian championship. The CAS admitted the Russian to the individual competitions of the Games, where she took fourth place.

In January, the Anti-Doping Disciplinary Committee (DAC) of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) ruled that although the athlete committed an anti-doping rule violation, she bore “no fault or negligence”. Valieva avoided sanctions, except for the cancellation of her results on the date of sample collection – December 25, 2021. Subsequently, RUSADA, the International Skating Union (ISU) and the World Skating Agency Anti-Doping (WADA) appealed to the CAS. WADA demands that the 17-year-old athlete be disqualified for four years. Subsequently, all appeals were consolidated into a single proceeding.

Sport24