The World Anti-Doping Agency said Tuesday it sent the Beijing Olympics case of teenage figure skater Kamila Valieva to sport's highest court, accusing Russian officials of making "no progress" toward resolving it.
Under a rarely used power, WADA can take cases out of national agencies' hands and send them direct to CAS if it can show that they are not being resolved in a "timely" manner, according to international anti-doping rules.
The Russian anti-doping agency, known as RUSADA, had indicated last month it was preparing to hold a hearing but wouldn't make the verdict public because Valieva was only 15 at the time she tested positive. "Despite putting RUSADA under formal notice to resolve the Kamila Valieva case promptly, no progress was made.
Therefore, I can confirm WADA has now officially referred it directly to the Court of Arbitration for Sport," WADA president Witold Banka wrote on Twitter.