Thomas Bach called for respect for the CAS decision to disqualify Valieva

International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach called for respect for the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) to disqualify Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva for four years. He announced this at the Youth Olympic Games in South Korea.

“Everyone has the right to criticize the court’s decision, have their own opinion, but we must fully respect this decision,” – Bach noted, emphasizing that the IOC “took note of the CAS decision.”

According to him, for the IOC, the case of violation of anti-doping rules is confirmation that attention should be paid not only to athletes, but also to their environment.

“This applies even more to situations where we are talking about minors,” concluded Bach.

Let us remind you that on January 29, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) found Valieva guilty of violating anti-doping laws. She was disqualified for four years from the moment the positive sample was taken (December 25, 2021). From the same date, the Russian figure skater lost all her awards.

Later, the ISU announced the redistribution of the final places in the team figure skating tournament at the Olympic Games in Beijing. The first place was given to the American team, the second place was taken by the Japanese team. On January 30, the Russian Figure Skating Federation announced its categorical disagreement with the decision of the Court of Arbitration for Sport to disqualify Kamila Valieva for four years.