The decision of the sports arbitration court in Lausanne is a direct violation of human rights. Court of Arbitration for Sport (cas) in Lausanne: International Court of Arbitration for Sports and Olympic Arbitration Procedure International Court of Arbitration in Lausanne

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Sports arbitration court(CAS) in Lausanne granted appeals on Thursday Russian athletes, annulling the decision of the International Olympic Committee(IOC) on their lifetime suspension from the Olympics.

The BBC Russian service tells how athletes, officials and journalists reacted to this decision.

International Olympic Committee

This could have a major impact on the future fight against doping. The IOC will therefore analyze the rationale for decisions very carefully as soon as they are available and consider the possible consequences - including the possibility of an appeal to the Swiss Federal Tribunal.

Regarding the participation of athletes from Russia in the Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang 2018, the decision of the IOC Executive Board of 5 December 2017 remains in effect. This suggests that since the Russian Olympic Committee has been suspended, Russian athletes will only be able to compete in PyeongChang at the invitation of the IOC.

Image copyright AFP/Getty Image caption The CAS considered that the evidence collected in respect of the athletes was not sufficient to unambiguously speak of an anti-doping rule violation.

The decision of the Arbitration Court in Lausanne does not mean that 28 athletes will be invited to the Games. The fact that they are not under sanctions does not mean that they automatically receive the privilege of being invited to the Games.

It is also important to note that at the press conference, the Secretary General of CAS stated that the decision of the court "does not mean that 28 athletes are declared innocent."

Pavel Kolobkov, Minister of Sports of Russia

Now the Russian Olympic Committee will send a letter to the IOC with a proposal that they declare our athletes to participate in the Olympic Games. We will wait for the official decision of the IOC. (Interfax)

All athletes were acquitted in the case on charges of anti-doping rule violations during the Sochi Games. And the guys, and we are all glad that justice has finally prevailed.

The CAS board recognized that they were innocent and canceled the decisions of the Oswald Commission (IOC). Today's CAS decisions confirm that many of those accused are "clean athletes". (RIA News)

Dmitry Peskov, press secretary of the President of Russia

We have repeatedly said that, of course, our athletes will continue to be supported through all possible channels in any steps that are aimed at upholding their rights.

The information received about the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport regarding our athletes confirms that vigorous actions to uphold the rights both in court and in other categories are justified, can be effective and must continue. And we hope that, of course, these actions will continue.

Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister of Russia

We never doubted that our athletes absolutely deservedly received all those medals that were won in Sochi. It is good that the court fully confirmed this, proved their purity.

This means that the athletes who filed suits are fully exonerated. And in relation to them, no prohibitive decisions are no longer valid, their biography is absolutely clean. And all those awards that they have acquired have been restored in their rights.

Image copyright Getty Images Image caption Skeletonist Alexander Tretyakov now has to get back gold medal

Everything (...) must be done as quickly as possible so that fully rehabilitated athletes can take advantage of all the opportunities that are open to them as a result of this court decision. (Interfax)

Vitaly Mutko, former Minister of Sports of Russia

Good news, but with bitterness. Frankly speaking, we did not expect such a decision, but nevertheless we proceeded from the fact that in all these hearings and commissions of Oswald, WADA (World anti-doping agency) so superficial accusations, hasty, without substantiation.

All this week the athletes proved their innocence. Doping is a fairly simple thing: there are samples, and all this talk and speculation should not be considered at all. As soon as some kind of consideration goes on a legal basis, then everything falls into place.

One can only express regret that WADA delegated all these processes to the commissions, Richard McLaren was absolutely unconvincing in this process.

Of course, we are very happy that 28 athletes were justified. We never doubted them. All of them have always been for us outstanding athletes, and we had no doubt that they won their podiums in a fair fight. And the president said that we were never going to leave them without support and help. (RIA News)

Mikhail Degtyarev, head of the State Duma Committee on Physical Culture, Sports, Tourism and Youth Affairs

We counted on positive decisions in court. The courts must always be filed, because silence means agreement with decisions taken or accusations. next step there should be claims in civil courts in order to refute the false theses of the McLaren report and protect the honor and dignity of athletes and coaches.

Elena Vyalbe, President of the Russian Ski Racing Federation

When they learned the solution, even the gift of speech was lost. It is a pity that three are still not fully justified, but the disqualification is only for these Olympic Games. In general, we are just happy, I believed that sooner or later this would happen. (RIA News)

Olga Fatkulina, world champion in speed skating

Image copyright AFP/Getty Images

I earned a medal with my honest work. When I learned about today's decision, happiness did not decrease or increase. Everything was as it should be. It will be a victory if we are admitted to the Olympic Games. Let's wait now - how everything will be decided on admission. That's when we'll be happy. Now the state is already such that there are no emotions. We are waiting to see how everything will be according to the situation. (RIA News)

Artem Kuznetsov, speed skater

Certainly, common sense triumphed, but many questions remain: what happened, why we were accused, and, I'm afraid, they will remain unanswered. It's a shame that we, most likely, will not go to the Olympics anyway, because there are no invitations yet, and it is not clear what will happen. (TASS)

Alexey Petukhov, skier

Image copyright Reuters

Having learned the decision, I just thought that justice has triumphed, there are higher powers and the truth is above all nasty things. Now let those who spoke badly about us think, let them be ashamed. And we came out victorious, it's great that the court heard us.

A little at a loss, I understand that everything is over, but the state is incomprehensible, twofold. It turns out that it is not clear with the Olympic Games, the IOC will certainly not allow it, and the list has been formed. But the fact that we will continue to prepare for the World Cup is a positive decision. With new forces in a new fight. (RIA News)

Alena Zavarzina, snowboarder

Nikita Kryukov, skier

I want to go to court, because the decision on disqualification affected me very strongly. My name, the name of the Olympic champion, was simply taken and dipped into the mud. I fully admit that this could make the fans doubt the purity of my results, my victories. I see no reason to tolerate it with impunity. Therefore, going to court seems to me a completely logical step.

28 athletes from the list of Russians banned for life from the Olympics were found clean and reinstated. But it's too early to celebrate victory.

How the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) in Lausanne has not yet burst or collapsed under a pile of cases of Russian athletes who are not allowed to the Olympics is incomprehensible to the mind. However, even if it collapsed, it certainly didn’t make it any easier for our athletes, because CAS on this moment looks like the only instance capable of restoring justice before the start of the Olympic Games in Pyeongchang. If it doesn't work here, it won't work anywhere in the near future.

There are, of course, civil courts, but this is already a matter of strategy - decisions can be considered there for months and years - there is definitely no time before the Korean Games. Although, you must admit, even if in a couple of years a certain civil court finds the IOC or Richard McLaren and his commission guilty of the fact that the Russians did not go to the Olympics and will oblige them to pay substantial compensation in euros, this will be a good consolation. But for now, these are dreams, oh, dreams.

But what about in reality?

Almost fifty Russian athletes who were not allowed to participate in the Olympics following the investigations of the IOC commission led by Dennis Oswald. Yes, not just not admitted, but life-suspended! Behind loud scandals with Shipulin or An, you could forget that the list of suspicious, and therefore accused, includes skiers with Legkov and Vylegzhanin, and skeletonists with Tretyakov and Nikitina, and bobsledder Kasyanov with overclockers, and luge Ivanova, and a number of skaters and hockey players - that's just those who have not yet completed sports career and prepared to compete in Pyeongchang. All of them have already disrupted the systematic preparation for the Olympics, but they retained the hope of performing there until the last.

All athletes suspended for life from the Games filed appeals with CAS - they were first heard there. Hearings on the cases of Russian athletes in court took place both last week and this week. If the Russians spoke in Lausanne almost every day, then the main witness for the prosecution, Grigory Rodchenkov, appeared in court only once - on January 22. Although he appeared - the wrong definition, because Rodchenkov testified via video link, but his face was covered with an opaque screen, and his voice was changed. You and I can be as indignant as we like about such a strange procedure for interrogating the chief and, by and large, the only witness for the prosecution, but it was up to CAS to decide whether all this was fair.

Could Russian athletes, despite everything that has been done to them in recent months, count on justice in Lausanne? Oddly enough, yes, they could. In 2016, before the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro, our athletes had not yet been deprived of medals and suspended for life, but they threatened not to let them go to Brazil. The most famous, of course, was the case of Yulia Efimova, who argued in court that she should not receive double punishment for the same offense, and CAS really sided with the athlete, a few days before the start of the Olympics, allowing her to join the team. And this is just one case out of many.

Russian athletes, deprived of Sochi awards and not allowed to Pyeongchang, prepared thoroughly - all the procedural points that Western justice loves to pay attention to were observed, so the cases were considered strictly on the merits. Rodchenkov's testimony, scratches on the test tubes, elevated salt levels in the samples - all this was remembered in the second, third or fourth round. And we came to an unexpected conclusion...

The decision was made on 39 Russian athletes - and for all 39 the punishments were mitigated: at least a life-long disqualification was lifted. 11 athletes will miss the Pyeongchang Olympics (a full list of names can be found). But another 28 Russians are fully justified and restored in all rights. Firstly, we are talking about the removal of a lifetime disqualification from them. Secondly, they are not forbidden to speak at the Olympics in Pyeongchang. Thirdly, the medals of the Games in Sochi were returned to them. Full list these 28 lucky ones you can find

The CAS reversed the decision in its entirety against 28 athletes, declaring that they did not have an anti-doping rule violation (see sidebar for a list of athletes). The appeals of another 11 athletes were partially satisfied: the court recognized their violation of anti-doping rules at the Sochi Olympics. The decision to deprive the Sochi medals (two gold medals in bobsleigh) remained in force, but the life-long disqualification was replaced by a suspension only from the next Games in Pyeongchang. The second list included bobsledders led by retired team leaders Alexander Zubkov and Alexei Voevoda, as well as three skiers and three hockey players. Consideration of the appeals of three athletes - also retired biathletes Olga Zaitseva, Olga Vilukhina and Yana Romanova (they won two silver medals in Sochi) - has been postponed and will be considered after the Olympics in Korea. Another athlete suspended on the basis of data from the Oswald Commission, bobsledder Maxim Belugin, did not appeal to CAS. Thus, the cases of almost all athletes who suffered in the course of the doping scandal after the Sochi Olympics were considered.

Why CAS overturned the IOC's decision

The reasons for the decision will be set out in the motivational part, which has not yet been published. The operative part of the judgment emphasizes that the evidence of anti-doping rule violations collected by the IOC and WADA in respect of 28 disqualified athletes is considered insufficient by CAS to impose sanctions on them. Following the release of the CAS verdict, the Olympic Committee issued a statement lamenting the IOC's "high CAS threshold for admitting the evidence presented". According to IOC officials, such an approach by the court could negatively affect the fight against doping, which is being waged by the IOC. After the publication of the reasoning part of the verdict, the IOC will consider the possibility of filing a cassation appeal with the Swiss Federal Tribunal.

But the CAS decision is final, and the IOC can appeal to the Swiss Tribunal only violations of a procedural nature, if any, sports lawyer Mikhail Prokopets explained to RBC.

The CAS is the highest legal authority in sports. The Court of Arbitration for Sport was established in 1983 on the initiative of the ex-president of the IOC, Juan Antonio Samaranch, its powers as the highest arbitration court in world sports are recognized by the IOC, sports federations and WADA. The Court, in particular, is empowered to overturn disciplinary sanctions approved by national and international federations up to the IOC.​

What does the CAS verdict mean?

The reversal of the IOC's decision to disqualify Russian athletes means that they will be lifted from their lifetime ban from the Olympic Games, and the medals won in Sochi will be returned.

According to the results of the Games, Russian athletes took a confident first place, having won 33 medals (13 gold, 11 silver and nine bronze). However, after the decision of the IOC, the Russian team dropped to the fourth position in the overall standings with 20 medals (of which ten were gold), and Norway became the winner of the Games.

The return of medals once again changes the alignment in the team standings of the 2014 Olympic Games. Nine awards will be returned to Russian athletes: two gold medals (skeletonist Alexander Tretyakov and skier Alexander Legkov), six silver medals (three in cross-country skiing, one in speed skating, two in luge) and one bronze medal (in skeleton).

Thus, Russia regains the final first place of the Sochi Games with 29 medals (11 gold, nine silver, nine bronze). Norway is back in second place - the Norwegians also have 11 gold medals, but the total number is less - 26 awards. In case of a positive decision regarding the biathletes, Russia will be able to return two more silver medals.

Who was acquitted by CAS

The CAS decision fully justified: bobsledders Dmitry Trunenkov, Alexei Negodailo, Olga Stulneva, Lyudmila Udobkina; skeletonists Alexander Tretyakov, Sergei Chudinov, Elena Nikitina, Olga Potylitsyna, Maria Orlova; skiers Alexander Legkov, Evgeny Belov, Maxim Vylegzhanin, Alexei Petukhov, Nikita Kryukov, Alexander Bessmertnykh, Evgenia Shapovalova, Natalya Matveeva; skaters Olga Fatkulina, Alexander Rumyantsev, Ivan Skobrev, Artem Kuznetsov; lugers Tatyana Ivanova, Albert Demchenko; hockey players Ekaterina Lebedeva, Ekaterina Pashkevich, Tatiana Burina, Anna Schukina, Ekaterina Smolentseva.

Will athletes be able to go to Pyeongchang

The decision of the CAS does not mean that the restored athletes will automatically enter the Olympics, the head of the commission of the Association of Lawyers of Russia on sports law Sergei Alekseev. “There is no direct connection between the decision of the court and the invitation to the Olympics. It remains at the discretion of the IOC Commission,” he explained. According to Alekseev, acquitted athletes can file claims for the protection of honor and dignity, compensation for non-pecuniary damage in connection with inaccurate information from the IOC and the WADA commission.

Many of the restored athletes want and are ready to compete at the Olympics, Russian athletes' lawyer Artem Patsev told RBC. “They now think only about this, and we will deal with the protection of honor and dignity already clearly after the Olympic Games. Now it is urgent to enter into a dialogue with the IOC regarding the issuance of invitations to the guys, since the grounds for their removal have disappeared, ”the lawyer said. Sports Minister Pavel Kolobkov called the CAS decision "a triumph of justice" and said that the IOC, based on the court's verdict, should grant the acquitted athletes "an unconditional right to participate in the upcoming Olympic Games."

“Now the Russian Olympic Committee will send a letter to the IOC with a proposal that they declare our athletes to participate in the Games, and we will wait for the decision of the IOC. We really hope that the IOC will make a decision in favor of the athletes who have earned the right to participate in the Olympics,” said Kolobkov.

The IOC does not agree with this approach. The removal of disqualification from individual athletes does not mean the removal of disqualification from the Russian Olympic Committee. The Russian team has been suspended from participation in the Olympic Games in Korea, and the decision on who to invite to the Olympics and who not remains in the competence of the IOC commission, which agreed on the list of invited Russians on January 27, the IOC said in a statement after the announcement of the CAS verdict.

In addition to the athletes acquitted by CAS, who appeared in the report of the Denis Oswald commission, the IOC did not agree on an invitation to the Olympics in Pyeongchang to several dozen more Olympians from Russia who had never been involved in doping scandals. In particular, the leaders of the national team did not receive invitations - skier Sergei Ustyugov, skaters Ekaterina Shikhova and Denis Yuskov, biathlete Anton Shipulin and six-time Olympic champion on the short track Viktor An. Officials of the Olympic Committee of their denial "the presence of the slightest suspicion" of involvement in the manipulation of doping. These athletes are preparing documents for submitting an application to CAS, a representative of the press service of the Ministry of Sports explained to RBC.

All athletes who are not allowed to participate in the Pyeongchang Olympics by decision of the IOC will be able to take part in alternative competitions which will be held in Sochi in parallel with the Korean Olympic Games. President Putin is already "based on the results of these competitions, to ensure bonuses in the amount of the Olympic Games." For the gold Olympic medal the state pays the athlete a bonus of 4 million rubles. 500 athletes can take part in the "alternative Olympics".

The CAS decision enables Russian athletes' lawyers to continue their fight for the restoration of their rights in civil courts. A possible exclusion from the Olympics in Korea of ​​athletes acquitted by CAS will also be challenged in the courts based on the CAS verdict.

On Thursday, February 1, Russian athletes will send requests to the IOC to receive an invitation to the Olympics in South Korea, Olympians lawyer Philip Burch told RBC. “We will request invitations today. The appeal process [to the CAS] was just for the purpose of getting decisions before the Olympics. Now the athletes are clean and should be invited,” he said.

Birch stressed that the IOC can either issue invitations or refuse invitations to 28 athletes. “If there is a refusal, then we will determine what further actions we will take,” the lawyer of the Olympians specified.

Minister of Sports Pavel Kolobkov did not rule out that a lawsuit could be filed with the court for the recovery of monetary compensation by Russian athletes for the damage caused to them by false accusations. “Athletes and lawyers will study this possibility, this cannot be ruled out,” he explained.

The CAS decision in favor of the Russian athletes caused swipe according to the IOC, sports lawyer Mikhail Prokopets told RBC. “This is very serious, given that the lives and careers of people are at stake. The CAS decision says that there is no evidence of the athletes' guilt. The IOC prepared these trials with such pathos, they had enough time to study the evidence, conduct all the necessary examinations, interrogate Grigory Rodchenkov and Richard McLaren, ”the lawyer noted.

Whether the IOC's arguments were "fantasies and conjectures", according to him, will become known after the publication of the reasoning part of the decision.

At the same time, the lawyer notes that not all the conclusions of the Oswald commission turned out to be unfounded, because "at least in relation to a third of the athletes, the accusations were nevertheless confirmed." Justified athletes, in his opinion, can recover moral and material damage from the IOC. “If they don’t make it to the Olympics or have already missed commercial competitions, everyone needs to seek the truth possible ways. Moreover, the state financially supports athletes in litigation, and it is necessary until the very end to try to restore the damaged reputation and compensate for financial damage, ”Prokopets is sure. The amounts of penalties, according to him, depend on the legislation of the countries where the claims will be considered, and each specific case.

Who did CAS justify

In August 2016, ahead of Summer Games in Rio de Janeiro, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) took the side of Russian athletes in a dispute with the International Olympic Committee. The CAS did not agree with the IOC criterion that previously convicted athletes were not allowed to compete, even if they had served their suspension. The list of those who received permission to participate in the Games included, for example, swimmer Yulia Efimova, who eventually won two silver medals in Rio.

Also before the Games in Rio, CAS made a positive decision on the complaint of athlete Daria Klishina. First International Federation athletics allowed Klishina to compete, but later canceled this decision, citing new information on her case. CAS ended up with a Russian athlete in Rio.

In November 2017, sports arbitration acquitted Russian hockey player Danis Zaripov, whose doping sample contained banned pseudoephedrine, and reduced his suspension from two years to six months. The court found that the athlete did not use doping intentionally, but became a victim of an accident.

In January 2018, CAS refused to disqualify Rio 2016 U.S. Olympic 4x100 relay gold medalist Gil Roberts for using illegal probenecid. The athlete managed to prove that the drug entered his body through the kiss of a girl who used it as a cure for an infection.

The Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne (CAS) has refused to uphold the appeals of Russian athletes filed against the decision of the IOC not to allow them to the Olympic Games. Thus, the Russian team will miss 47 athletes

CAS refused to consider the decision to exclude athletes as sanctions. Consideration of the remaining cases took place on the night of 9 February. In total, 47 people wrote applications to arbitration, all of their appeals were rejected, according to the decision of the Sports Arbitration, published on the CAS website.

"CAS arbitrators believe that the process organized by the IOC to create a list of invited Russian athletes to participate in the Olympic Games from Russia cannot be called sanctions [against them]," the CAS said.

The court took into account the broad gesture of the IOC to give some of the Russian athletes the opportunity to compete at the Olympics, albeit under neutral flag. This decision was considered by CAS as a step "designed to balance the interests of some athletes from Russia and the interests of the IOC, aimed at the global fight against doping."

“The CAS also found that the applicants failed to demonstrate that the way in which they were assessed by the two IOC ad hoc commissions [for the non-admission decision] was discriminatory or unfair,” the court's decision stressed.

Separately, it is noted that illegal actions are not seen in the actions of the Olympic Committee.

The IOC received this news without a hint of joy.

“We welcome the decision of the CAS, it supports the fight against doping and brings clarity [regarding participation in the Games] to all athletes,” the IOC said in a message on the official Twitter channel.

IOC Statement on CAS: We welcome this decision which supports the fight against doping and brings clarity for all athletes.