“The sports justice system is undergoing negative changes” – Pozdnyakov on the upcoming trial in the Valieva case

President of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) Stanislav Pozdnyakov commenting on the upcoming court hearing in the figure skater case Kamila Valieva said the sports justice system is undergoing negative changes.

Previously, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (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 Frenchman Mathieu Maisonneuve (Valieva’s side) were appointed as referees; the president was the representative of Great Britain and Australia, James Drake. Closed hearings will take place on September 26, 27, 28 and, if necessary, September 29.

— In my opinion, the sports justice system is currently undergoing negative changes. Sports arbitration will decide everything,” Pozdnyakov said, as quoted by .

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 awards ceremony for the winners of the team competition never took 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 ISU and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) made appeal to the CAS. WADA demands that the 17-year-old athlete be disqualified for four years.