The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has expressed its “disappointment” in the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) decision to return to Russian champion skier Alexander Legkov his medals won at the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
“We are disappointed in the decision of CAS, which denied an IOC appeal to the CAS decision from April 23 2018 in relation to Alexander Legkov,” an IOC press-release stated.
The IOC went further in explaining why they initially lodged an appeal to the decision in a statement that read: “the committee received the first reasons for judgment in the case of the athletes in April 2018, after which the decision was taken to lodge a complaint.
“We decided, that even if the chances of overall success would not be high, taking into account the particular circumstances of these cases, we needed to submit an appeal regardless, in order to take all possible measures to defend clean athletes.”
At the beginning of February 2018, The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), fully acquitted 28 of 39 Russian athletes, who were suspected of anti-doping violations at the Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Southern Russia, ruling there was insufficient evidence.
Legkov was reinstated as Olympic champion upon the decision being overturned, having been disqualified and having his Sochi results annulled by the IOC in November 2017.
During the Games, Legkov underwent three doping tests on February 13, 21 and 23, none of which showed any trace of banned substances.
The IOC maintained that the athlete had submitted earlier negative urine samples, in order to later substitute them with the probes given at the time of the competition.
However CAS resolved that these arguments did not have exact dates, places, witnesses, and most importantly, exact test tubes that were involved in the scheme, and therefore the accusations were baseless.
Also on rt.com ‘Hopes dies last’ – Alexander Legkov on CAS decision over Olympic banThe IOC emphasized that in future they will retain the right to take the issue to court in the instance new evidence of doping violations by Russian athletes during the Sochi Games should appear.
Christof Wieschemann, lawyer for Legkov, said he was “delighted” that the proceedings against his client, which lasted more than two years, had been “successfully concluded” and that the decision was “correct”.
Source : RT - Daily news
IOC 'disappointed', decide against appeal as CAS clear Olympic champion Legkov of doping
IOC 'disappointed', decide against appeal as CAS clear Olympic champion Legkov of doping
