Wada to take Russia doping case to CAS this week

Jan 10, 2020 06:00 am

The World Anti-Doping Agency will take its case for the exclusion of Russia from international sporting competitions to the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) "by the weekend", a Wada official said on Wednesday.

The CAS, the world's highest sporting court, will have to decide whether to confirm the four-year ban Wada imposed on Russia last month, or listen to Russia's case against the sanction.

Wada decided on Dec 9 to ban Russia for four years from participating in international events, including this year's Olympics in Tokyo, the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics and the 2022 football World Cup, over what it considers a state-sponsored programme of doping.

Wada says Russia "manipulated" data from an anti-doping laboratory in Moscow, the latest episode in a scandal which started with the revelation in 2015 of long-term institutional doping that involved senior officials, secret agents and trafficked urine vials.

Under the sanctions, Russian sportsmen and women will still be allowed to compete at the Olympics this summer but only if they can demonstrate that they were not part of the doping network. - AFP