Russian tribunal finds skater Valieva bore 'no fault or negligence' in doping case

A Russian tribunal found figure skater Kamila Valieva bore "no fault or negligence" in a doping case that rocked last year's Winter Olympics, the World Anti-Doping Agency said Friday.

The Russian skater won Olympic gold in the team competition in February before it was announced that a sample she had given two months before had tested positive for a banned substance. The result was reported later because the laboratory which tested the sample had been affected by the coronavirus pandemic.

WADA said it was "concerned" that a Russian anti-doping agency panel ruled that Valieva should only be disqualified from one day of the 2021 Russian national championships, where the sample was taken.

"The tribunal found that although the athlete had committed an Anti-Doping Rule Violation, she bore 'no fault or negligence' for it. As such, the tribunal imposed no sanction except for the disqualification of her results on the date of the sample collection," WADA said in the statement.

WATCH | Latest on Valieva figure skating probe:

WADA said it would review the case file before deciding on further steps. WADA had previously complained Russia was taking too long to reach a decision in Valieva's case and sought to have it moved to the Switzerland-based Court of Arbitration for Sport.

The Russian agency has not published the verdict. It has previously said it would not publish any findings related to the case because Valieva was only 15 at the time she tested positive.

Depending on the eventual result of any appeal, the case could result in Canada being bumped from fourth place to bronze in the team event, while the United States could be upgraded from silver to gold.

CAS typically takes months to process cases. A previous CAS panel of