“CAS ignored important evidence from the Russian side when making a decision in the Valieva case” – Zakharova

Representatives of Western countries on the panel of judges of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), when making a decision in the case of Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva, ignored important defense evidence, said a official representative of the Russian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Maria Zakharova .

The CAS on Monday suspended Valieva for four years for violating anti-doping rules and invalidated her results from the competitions on December 25, 2021. The court statement notes that the skater was not able to provide convincing evidence that the violation did not was not intentional.

“This is another blatant example of the politicization of sport and its destruction. This is another manifestation of unscrupulous competition aimed at neutralizing one of the most powerful representatives of world figure skating.

As for the trial itself, one could not count on its impartiality or even its adequacy from the start. The objectivity of the judges, among whom were representatives of the United States, France, Great Britain and Australia, is questionable. They simply ignored many important pieces of evidence presented by the Russian side when considering this case.

Our position in the context of a possible proportionate response is clearly stated by the leadership of the Russian Olympic Committee and the Ministry of Sports of the Russian Federation. The head of the Ministry of Sports, Oleg Matytsin, called the CAS decision in the Kamila Valieva case a declaration of war on Russian sport.

At the same time, as before, the Russian side will continue to defend the right of our athletes to international structures, including appealing such an unfair and, I would even say, wild decision,” Zakharova said at the briefing.

Before the personal tournament at the 2022 Olympics in Beijing, it became known that the banned drug trimetazidine was found in Valieva’s doping sample taken during the Russian Championship. The CAS cleared the Russian to compete in the individual competitions at the Games, where she finished fourth, but that result has now been overturned. The athlete also lost the title of European champion, the title went to Anna Shcherbakova. Additionally, the result of the team figure skating tournament was revised, Valieva’s points were deducted, and the Russian team moved from first to third place.