Olympics-Court of Arbitration for Sport ignored anti-doping code in Valieva ruling, says WADA

By Steve Keating and Julien Pretot

BEIJING (Reuters) - The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) on Friday accused the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) of ignoring the world anti-doping code when it upheld the Russian anti-doping authorities' decision to lift the provisional suspension of Russian teenage figure skater Kamila Valieva at the Beijing Olympics.

CAS ruled on Monday that Valieva should be allowed to compete in the women's competition despite having failed a drug test at her national championships last December.

The result was only revealed on Feb. 8, a day after Valieva helped the Russian Olympic Committee win the team event at the Beijing Games.

In its reasoned decision published on Friday, CAS said it went with the Disciplinary Committee (DADC) of the Russian Anti-Doping Agency's argument that the 15-year-old Valieva, being a 'protected person', did not need to meet the usual standards to prove that she did not take the banned heart drug she tested positive for willingly.

"The Committee (DADC) considered that the Athlete established, at least at the 'reasonable possibility' level and at the maximum at the 'balance of probability' level, that the violation resulted from the ingestion of a contaminated product," CAS said.

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