The Swiss Federal Court explains why it does not consider the sanction imposed on Valieva too harsh

The Swiss Federal Court did not recognize the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) on the disqualification of the Russian figure skater for four years as too harsh. Kamila Valieva stems from a document published on the court’s website.

On Wednesday, it became known that the Swiss Federal Court had rejected an appeal against the CAS decision to disqualify Valieva. At the end of January, the Russian was disqualified for four years for violating anti-doping rules. The International Skating Union (ISU) has reviewed the results of the 2022 Games figure skating team tournament, won by the Russian team. First place was awarded to the American team, the Japanese came second, and the Russians received bronze.

— In principle and generally speaking, it is not entirely clear why the young age of an athlete found guilty of an anti-doping rule violation considered intentional should necessarily lead to him being sanctioned less harshly than ‘an athlete several years older than him. Systematically applying less severe sanctions to young athletes simply because of their age may be contrary to anti-doping objectives, as the sanctions imposed may have a less deterrent effect and encourage more young athletes to resort to prohibited substances to improve their performance. performance, which can have harmful consequences on their health. Furthermore, we must not lose sight of the fact that anti-doping rules and sanctions aim to guarantee fair competition between athletes. However, the main objective of the fight against doping could be compromised if, in the event of a violation of the anti-doping rules deemed intentional, the protected persons were punished less severely than other athletes simply because of their young age, considers the Federal Court Swiss. said in a statement.

In February, the CAS announced the registration of appeals against the ISU decision on the redistribution of medals from the team figure skating tournament at the 2022 Olympics: from the Russian Olympic Committee, the Russian Federation figure skating and Russian figure skaters. CAS concluded that Valieva’s results in the Olympic figure skating team competition were rightly disqualified. The 18-year-old Russian’s suspension period begins on December 25, 2021.

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