“There is no need to dramatize Valieva’s disqualification. I’m sure she can handle it” – Roman Rotenberg

SKA hockey head coach Roman Rotenberg said that figure skater Kamila Valieva will face disqualification, so there is no need to dramatize the situation.

On Monday, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decided to find Valieva guilty of violating anti-doping rules and disqualify her for 4 years from the date of collection of the doping sample – December 25, 2021. The athlete should be stripped of all medals from that date, including gold at the 2022 Olympic Games in the team tournament and at the 2022 European Championships. The CAS decision may be challenged before the Swiss Federal Court in a period of 30 days.

— We cannot influence policy, the decision is politicized. He has just over a year of disqualification remaining. There is no need to dramatize the situation. This is our path, it is a challenge, we must continue to work. Kamila is one of the brightest figure skaters. Let’s take the shot. I’m sure Camila can handle this. Maybe in the future she will be able to perform at the SKA Arena,” reports a correspondent, reporting Rotenberg’s words.

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 in the doping sample 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.

In January 2023, the anti-doping disciplinary committee of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency (DAK RUSADA) ruled that although Valieva 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 (ISU) and the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) filed appeals to CAS, which were consolidated into one proceeding.