Kolobkov – about Valieva’s case before the CAS: “If the arguments of our camp were convincing, I hope that there will be no sanctions, or that they will be minimal”

Former Minister of Sports of the Russian Federation Pavel Kolobkov believes that following the results of the proceedings before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva can avoid sanctions.

Earlier, USA Today journalist Christine Brennan reported that the CAS will make a decision on Valieva’s doping case on Monday, January 29.

— If the arguments on our side were convincing, I hope that there will be no sanctions, or that they will be minimal. Let’s see, we don’t have all the details of the whole process,” Kolobkov told .

Last November, the CAS concluded hearings in the case of 17-year-old Valieva. The court said it would release its verdict by the end of January.

Valieva at the Beijing Olympics 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 allowed the Russian to participate in the individual competitions at the Games, where she finished fourth. The award ceremony for the winners of the team tournament has not yet taken place.

In January 2023, the anti-doping disciplinary committee of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (RUSADA) ruled that although Valieva had committed an anti-doping rule violation, she bore “no fault or negligence”. The athlete avoided sanctions, except for the cancellation of his results on the date of sample collection – December 25, 2021. Subsequently, RUSADA, the International Skating Union and the World Anti-Doping Agency filed appeals with the CAS, which were consolidated into a single proceeding.